Destined
by KirstenCerece
Summary: After Clary is accidently locked out of her car and has to walk home in the freezing weather, she thought nothing else could go wrong. Next thing she knows, Clary's archenemy from high school, Jace, is forcing her to stay with him until she can get her keys out of her car. Will hate blossom into love, or will an unexpected event destroy what they've built between them?
1. Chapter 1

"No, no, no, no, no! This cannot be happening!" I yanked on the handle of my car repeatedly, wishing the lock open. A car had sped past me about two minutes ago, while I was in the middle of putting my bags in the passenger seat. I had already put the key in the ignition, ready to let it warm up a bit before I drove the forty minutes back home, but I ended up jumping to the side and slamming my door shut to prevent the entire thing getting ripped off. Unfortunately, the doors locked when I shut them. Now I'm stuck in the freezing cold, with heavy, wet snow soaking through my coat and chilling me down to the bone. After confirming there were no cabs around, I began walking home.

"I just had to get locked out of my car when Maia's out of town. At least I hadn't started the car yet." My muttering to myself earned me odd looks from passing people, which I met with a rather rude glare, but I was past caring.

I was about thirty minutes away from my car and any other living person, and embracing the fact I might have hypothermia when I get home, when a hand landed on my shoulder. My hand sought the knife stashed in my boot, as I spun away from the creeper behind me.

"Impressive speed for someone who looks like their almost frozen through. You can put the knife away though, I'm friendly." I felt my eyebrow go up, twisting my face into an exasperated expression.

"Jace. What the hell do you want?" I let my now-soaked hair fall in front of my face while I shoved my knife back in my boot. I cringed at the glimpse I got of my hair, already feeling the pain of trying to untangle it later.

"Still feisty I see- I'm glad. I always liked feisty Clary. As for what I'm doing, I noticed you walking about five minutes ago, and saw you were soaking wet. I figured I would do the honorable thing and see if you wanted a ride home."

"What's in it for you?"

"Really Clary, you hurt my feelings." Jace had a fake injured looked on his face, his hand clutching his chest. The expression slid off his face, a more serious one taking its place.

"Seriously though, do you need a ride home Clary? You're gonna freeze to death out here." I'd never seen Jace this serious before, but I wasn't going to let my guard down. I still remember the day he 'accidentally' spilled a vial of some sort of animal blood on me in science our Junior year in high school.

"No, I'm fine. My apartment's just another five minutes ahead." I started to walk again, until my feet completely left the ground.

"Jace! Put me down! I told you I can get home on my own!" I felt Jace laugh, while my frustration only grew.

"I know that, but you don't need to get sick or develop hypothermia. Your fingers already look white like the beginnings of severe frostbite. I'm driving you, whether you like it or not." I bit back a retort and lifted my hands to look at them. They _were_ white, and I grudgingly accepted the fact I needed Jace's help.

His car was warm, and clean. Very clean. I felt bad even sitting in it, seeing as I was soaking wet. Jace fiddled with the controls on the dash, concentrating the heat on me. I sunk into the seat, feeling my tense muscles finally relax from the heat.

"Hold on a sec." Jace's voice snapped me out of my trance, bringing me back to reality. Jace was outside digging around in the trunk of his car, and I was back to sulking. When he climbed back in he spread out a soft, thick blanket on me and handed me a navy blue towel.

"There, that should keep you warm until we get to your place. Use that towel to dry your hair; I'm not letting you back out of this car until it's dry." He gently grabbed a strand of my hair, showing me the ice in it much to my surprise. I was staring at him, actually at _him_, when he shook his head slightly and dropped the strand.

I was carefully running the towel through small sections of my hair when I realized something.

"Damn it! They're on my key chain!" Jace swerved slightly, skidding momentarily on the slick roads before regaining control. He looked over in surprise at me.

"The reason I was walking is because I was putting my bags in the passenger seat of my car, when an idiot driver almost took my door off. I jumped against my car and slammed the door shut, but when I went to open the door back up, it was locked. So was the passenger side and both back doors. My keys were in the ignition ready for me to start the car."

"At least you didn't start it, other wise that could have been pricey with an empty tank of gas and possibly a ticket from that meter maid with the stick up her ass. What about a family member or room mate? Does no one else have a spare key for you?"

"Yeah I've got one in my apartment and my room mate Maia has the third one, but she's out of town for the next two weeks. She actually just left this morning. Maia also has the second apartment key. My Mom lives in Montana with my Dad, Luke." I put my face in my hands, abandoning the task of drying my unruly curls.

"Let me guess, your key is in your car." I nodded, keeping my head in my hands.

"Simple solution. I'll pay for you to stay in a hotel until we can get your car unlocked." My head shot up, a look of disbelief crossing my features.

"What? Absolutely not, Jace! I'm not letting you do that!"

"Okay then, you can just stay with me then. Yup, it's decided." My jaw dropped, and I just stared at him again. I saw him glance out of the corner of his eye and grin.

"I know I'm pleasant to stare at, but I don't think my ego could get any bigger. Your going to make it explode." I gritted my teeth, but was secretly thankful for the obnoxious comment; it kept me from having those thoughts where I mistake Jace as a nice guy.

"I'm not letting you pay for me to stay in a hotel, and I'm not going to stay at your apartment."

"Sorry Clary, but I'm not giving you a choice. I know as well as you do, that you have exactly zero options besides the ones I'm offering at the current moment. I'd say take it or leave it, but I'm making you take it."

"Great. Just great."


	2. Chapter 2

"Jace, what did you buy?" We were parked outside a simple chain store which sold everything from clothes to food to hiking equipment. Jace had suddenly pulled into the parking lot about fifteen minutes ago, and told me to wait in the car with the heat still running. Too tired to argue, I just shrugged and let my head fall against the window. Now he was back, and had just loaded about fifteen bags into the backseat of the car.

"Just some supplies for you. I don't want to be a bad host, now do I?" He was calmly fastening his seatbelt, while I was simmering and on the edge of committing homicide.

"Jace..." He just flashed me a white smile, and pulled back onto the road.

Jace's apartment wasn't so much of an apartment, but more of a two story flat. The bottom floor consisted of a simple entryway, which connected into the living room. To the left of the living room was a lavish kitchen with soft black marble counters. It seemed simple, but not exactly _Jace_.

"I know what you're thinking. I only entertain here and cook. My real living area is upstairs with the bedrooms. No one has ever been up there before besides my brother and sister, and now you." That feeling was fluttering in my stomach again. Maybe Jace has changed from the asshole he was in high school. After all he's bought me god knows what at that store, saved me from freezing to death, and offered me a place to stay until I can call someone to get my keys out of my car.

"Hey, you okay?" Jace was standing not even a foot away from me, his hand on my forehead.

"You're warm- warmer than you should be normally. I'll show you your room upstairs and then I'll bring in all the bags. Come on." He grabbed my wrist, sending jolts up my arm. Jace didn't appear to feel what I did, so I blamed it on my hands almost getting frostbitten.

"Here we are. Make yourself comfortable, and I'll go get your things so you can take a shower." He shut the door on the way out, leaving me to marvel at the room. A queen size bed rested in the middle of the wall to my left, flanked by small black tables with three drawers a piece in them. A green comforter with a silver sheen adorned the bed, with very fluffy pillows sheathed in the same material. The walls were painted an off-color white, making the room seem spacious yet cozy. A walk-in closet was situated on the other side of the room, beside the bathroom. The bathroom was very large, with a Jacuzzi in the left corner and a simple shower stall encased in semi-transparent glass on the right. The sink was enormous, with enough room to hold a dancer's makeup and then some. There were also about six different plug ins, which made me think this room had been specifically designed for a girl to inhabit.

I was sitting on the bed running my hand over the material on the bed when Jace knocked on the door. I opened the door and sat back down in my spot on the bed. There was something about this material that was just so aesthetically pleasing, especially when I softly ran my hand over it. I caught Jace smile as I did this, but watched as his eyes went wide and he rushed over to me. He grabbed my hand resting on my lap, and turned it over.

"Oh my gosh, just look at your hands Clary! You're taking a hot bath right now." Before I could say anything, he was already in the bathroom turning on the Jacuzzi and letting the water heat up.

"Jace I can take care of myself. I don't need you to baby me." I was standing in the doorway of the bathroom, but I peeked over at the bags, which were now tossed across the bed, hoping Jace had perhaps bought me clothes. He came back out, saw where I was looking, and pressed his hand against the small of my back to guide towards the pile.

"These bags are clothes, this one is things like toothbrush and toothpaste stuff like that, and these bags are hair things like a hairbrush and mousse."

"Mousse? How do you know I use mousse in my hair? You even got the brand right!" I held the can in my hand, looking at Jace expectantly.

"Well, back in high school Kailea would complain to about how 'your hair was always so perfect' so she found out what you used in your hair and tried it. That was the day she came in with her hair so stiff it could have stabbed someone." I smiled, remembering Kailea. She had gotten jealous easily, but was a good person in the end.

"She thought my hair was perfect? If I remember correctly, it was a frizz ball constantly. My hair was horrible. Kind of like it is right now." I picked up a strand and scowled at it. I was going to need half a gallon of conditioner and a good two hours to get the knots out of it.

"Ah crap. See how stiff your hands are? You need to go get in the bath Clary." I was getting frustrated with Jace bossing me around.

"What if I don't want to? Maybe I just want to get out of these wet clothes and curl up in bed?" His eyes narrowed dangerously, and his mouth was in a scowl.

"I will make you get in there, Clary. You might have hypothermia, so you need to take a bath and soak in the hot water for a while." I glared back and crossed my arms.

"I'd like to see you try." Jace smirked, making my stomach flutter again.

"Challenge accepted." Jace rushed me, pinning me against the wall beside the doorframe to the bathroom. He used his entire body to pin me, causing me to secretly admit he was indeed a very desirable man. However my mind flipped to murder again when I felt him grasp both my thin jacket and shirt and yank them off me, leaving me in my bra and jeans.

"Jace Wayland! What are you doing?" I started to squirm and get away from him, but he was just too strong.

"Making you get in that tub. I told you I would." With that he quickly popped the button on my jeans and disposed of them on the floor beside my shirt and jacket. Now I was clad in only my black bra and panties. Usually I would try to cover myself, but I was too mad to even think about it, plus Jace still had his entire body pinning mine to the wall. Next thing I knew, I was picked up bridal-style and dumped in the tub. I flung my now sopping hair our of my face to glare at Jace, who was sitting on the edge of the tub wearing an 'I told you so' expression.

"Why the hell do you even care what happens to me? It's not like you cared in high school, so why now?" The smirk left his face to be replaced with a frown. He ran his hand through his hair, seeming lost for words for the first time in his life.

"I don't know, but I do know that you need help right now and I'm more than glad to oblige. I feel awful about my actions in high school, and I wish I could erase everything mean I had ever said or done to you. I'm not sure why, but for the past couple years, about five months after graduation, I started having dreams about you. Some were pleasant, but most were nightmares. The most recent one was of you literally freezing to death somehow. I know deep down that if I would have let you walk home, you wouldn't have made it through the night. Believe it or not Clary, but I've actually _missed you_. You're the only one who could actually hold an argument with me and not make a total ass of them self." My eyes were wide, taking Jace in a brand new light. So he has changed.

"Thank you Jace. You really don't understand how much that means to me." He just smiled, told me to stay in for a minimum of an hour, but I could stay in for as long as I liked. I nodded my thanks, and finished stripping once he left.

"I really hope he remembered underwear and not just shirts and pants." I drew my knees stretched out in the tub, and just let the jets massage away and thoughts and worries.

Three hours later after I had gotten dressed in a comfy pair of black yoga pants and a tank top, which surprisingly fit, I wandered out into the hall and discovered Jace's actual living area. _This_ seemed like Jace's place to hangout. Creme carpets, navy blue walls, a huge 92' television hung on the wall, in front of a spacious couch with a coffee table. An Xbox, Playstation 3, Wii, and DVD player were organized neatly in the entertainment stand beneath the television with more games than I could count for each one.

Choosing to simply watch TV., I settled in the corner of the couch with my legs tucked against me. I was halfway through the movie Rise of the Guardians when Jace appeared in the doorway with his classic smirk on his face.

"I see you found my actual living room. Are you enjoying the movie?" His golden hair was wet, the curls held down by excess water. I nodded, tucking my legs against me tighter. I didn't notice how cold I was until Jace threw a blanket on me. I grabbed the edge, pulling it up against my neck.

"So I called the car place that unlocks cars for people."

"You what? It's ten at night Jace! What if you woke someone up?" The blanket had slipped while I was ranting, exposing my shoulder to the cold air again. I shivered and pulled it back up, but not before catching Jace staring at me. I shook my head and returned to glaring at him.

"I didn't wake up anyone, but that's because the owner of the shop and its employees are out of the country on a business trip for the next three weeks. Looks like your stuck with me until your roommate comes back." I drew my knees up to my chest under the covers and let my head fall on them. I let out a groan, while Jace chuckled and left the room.

What had I do to deserve this? I hate Jace! Or at least I wanted to hate him, but he was being so sweet. What other person would take me in after roaming the streets in the snow? He even bought me clothes and supplies to make me more comfortable.

"Hey, cheer up. I brought you something." Jace settled in beside me, a bowl of something in each hand.

"What's this?" I accepted the bowl he offered me, taking a cautious bite.

"Strawberry frozen yogurt. I picked some up when I stopped to get your things." I shoveled another large bite in my mouth, barely managing to hold back a moan of delight.

"How did you know I loved this stuff?"

"Remember the ice cream stand you went to after school every friday? I remember you would get one of those small cups of it every time you went." I felt my cheeks heat up at the thought of Jace watching me.

"You seem to have stalked me a lot in high school. Probably to plot against me and humiliate me with something." Jace gave me a small smile, but I didn't miss the slight slump in his shoulders.

"I used to tell myself that was the reason I used to watch you, but now I think it was because of something else." I put my finished bowl of frozen yogurt on the coffee table and gave Jace my full attention.

"Like what?" I ventured cautiously. The fluttering was back in my stomach and I felt my heart start to beat rapidly.

"Well I, it's hard to explain Clary. It's nothing." With that he left and I heard his door softly shut. I felt a stray tear slide down my cheek and swiped at it angrily.

"What are you getting emotional about? It's not like you like him or anything." I placed my bowl in the small kitchenette area beside the room I was just in and went to my temporary bedroom, taking the blanket Jace had put on me earlier. After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I settled under the amazingly soft blankets and tried to forget about Jace.

I shut my door without going in. I felt so bad about how I treated Clary in high school, but in all honesty I've realized the reason I treated her the way I did was because I _cared_ about her. I still care about her. What I don't understand is why. Why do I feel like I need to protect her and beat the crap out of anyone who messed with her?

"What are you getting emotional about? It's not like you like him or anything."

I stepped backwards into the shadows when I heard her soft footsteps leave the living room and then the kitchenette. I saw the tear stain on her cheek reflect the dim light emitting from the living room and felt my heart constrict. Why was I such a dick? I sighed and went into my bedroom, with ideas of how I could make it up to Clary swirling around in my mind.


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks to shannie83, memeg, Liz113, SweettFace, Fillmore99, and theeigthlilyflower for reviewing!

I hope you all are enjoying, and any suggestions are appreciated!

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><p>When I woke up the next morning, the first thing I realized was that this room wasn't in my apartment. I shot up slinging open the door and running out into the hallway, keeping flat against the wall. I was breathing rapidly, and willing my sole muscles to cooperate with me. Why were my muscles sore? I turned my body to the left, peering down the hallway to see where I could escape- until arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me flush against a chest.<p>

"You got locked out of your car and apartment, and now your staying with me until your roommate comes back." Ah, I remember. I pushed backwards at Jace, trying to get him away from me.

"Get off of me, Jace!" He let go, hands up in surrender.

"Sorry! Just thought I'd keep you from smacking into the front door when you try to escape." He casually turned away and walked into the kitchen, leaving me standing in the middle of the hallway.

"Wait, slam into the door? What does that mean?" I followed Jace into the kitchen, plopping down on one of the stools by the island. He rummaged in the fridge and pulled out a carton of eggs and butter, followed by a pack of bacon.

"Look out the window. The snow didn't stop last night." I moved to the window, gasping when I looked outside. Not a soul was on the side walk and only a few vehicles were attempting to trudge what looked like two feet of snow piled up on the streets. The snow was still steadily drifting down, not showing any signs of stopping.

"The door is not only blocked by snow, but it's also frozen shut. I tried to open so I could go across the street to get us coffee this morning, but when the door wouldn't budge I changed to plan B."

"What's plan B?"

"Home-brewed coffee, fried eggs, toast, and bacon." I nodded in agreement and sat back down, propping my elbows up on the island.

"Where do you work?" I let my head fall to the side, silently stating my question. Jace turned around, letting the bacon start cooking.

"I was asking because you're not going to be able to go anywhere out of this house for a few days at the least." I groaned, letting my head bang softly on the table.

"Most women would be jumping at the chance to be trapped in an apartment with me. This makes me almost wonder if your a lesbian. Does your roommate have a boyfriend?"

"Excuse me! I am not a lesbian and Maia does have a boyfriend thank you very much! Maybe I just think your a pompous idiot and you lower my intellectual level." Jace raised an eyebrow, his famous smirk crossing his face. I glared back at him, challenging him to say another smart-aleck remark. He laughed, turning back to attend to our breakfast. I sighed, and figured I tell him what he wanted to know.

"I work from home. I'm an artist."

"Are you one of those freelance artist who is actually really depressed and 'paints for their soul'? Or maybe you're trying to find a big break with a museum or something?" I giggle escaped from my lips before I could stop it. I shook my head, trying to stifle my smile.

"Do you know the Landmark Arts Studio down on Sutton Avenue? How they always have a brand new poster on that sign for each new play they perform? I paint those for them." Jace dropped the spatula on the floor, cursing and retrieving a new one while tossing the other in the sink.

"You mean to say that tiny you paints that enormous fifteen foot poster every two weeks for them?" I nodded, enjoying the fact I caught Jace off guard for once.

"Yup." I said, popping the 'p'.

"Right now I'm not painting for them though, because they take a break performing from November to February."

"I'm getting a feeling you paint for someone else during that four month break."

"Just a family painting here or there, occasionally someone will ask me to paint a room in there home when they want something more than just plain paint. I haven't had any calls for about two weeks though, so I don't have any appointments." Jace maneuvered the first round of bacon onto a plate next to the stove and put the next round on.

"How does a family painting work? Do they just sit there while you paint them like in the Victorian days?" Another involuntary giggle escaped my lips. I really needed to stop before Jace's ego really does explode.

"No, they send me a picture to work off of. The only ones I actually have to travel for is the room paintings. Otherwise I work from home." Jace whistled, looking impressed.

"How much do you usually make from these paintings?" I scoffed, folding my arms on the table.

"That's a little personal, don't you think?" He shrugged, transferring the last round of bacon to the plate and starting on the eggs.

"I'm just curious, that's all." I sighed again, deciding to humor him.

"One thousand."

"For all that? That's it?"

"No, that's for the Landmark painting. Family portraits range from fifty to one thousand and walls are fifty."

"Wait, family portraits range to one thousand? Who would pay that much for a portrait?"

"Rich families who want a portrait as big as the poster I paint for the Landmark. It takes a lot of time to do those, so I need to make it worth my while. Those rich bastards think it's a steal for only a thousand." I flinched when the toast popped; I hadn't seen Jace put the bread in the toaster.

"It's great that you're self-employed. Plus you live in an area where there are a lot of opportunities to gain new clients and businesses, so you never have to worry about slow business." Jace set a plate with two fried eggs, three pieces of bacon, and two pieces of toast in front of me. A second later he set a hearty cup of orange juice to the right of my plate, and placed his own plate across from me. Like a typical guy, he had a massive pile of food on his plate which I couldn't even begin to take stock of.

"What do you do? I know you can't just be a stay at home rich kid, even though you have the money." Everyone knew Jace's family was loaded, but Jace never played on the fact he came from a family with money. He never flaunted it and never used it for personal gain. I had always found that an admirable quality in him, but I would always forget when he would make a snarky comment.

"That's probably the nicest thing you've ever said to me. Although you are correct, I own the defensive arts academy that's actually only three streets up from the Landmark Studio. I don't go there very much, because Izzy and Alec are the instructors and keep everything in line. I'm sure you remember at least Izzy." I did remember Izzy, very well. She was one of my friends in high school, even if we didn't hang out much out of school.

"I do. I need to drop by and see her sometime. I feel bad for not trying to track her down after all these years."

"Geez, Clary. Way to make me feel us feel old. It's only been two years since we graduated and you make it sound like twenty." I let a small smile grace my lips, secretly starting to enjoy Jace's odd sense of humor.

I spent the rest of the day sorting through the bags Jace had left on my bed, hanging the clothes up and putting away the bathroom supplies at the urging of Jace. All of the clothes Jace had bought me, every single one, fit perfectly to my surprise. I almost wondered if he had been checking me out in the car or was just a good guess at what sizes people wore. After I had finished putting all of the clothes and bathroom supplies away, I noticed Jace hadn't bought one thing- makeup. All I wore usually was a bit of eyeliner and mascara, occasionally some foundation on days I wasn't feeling well, but I felt exposed without any on around Jace. I didn't care what I looked like around other people, but Jace made me feel so plain. His blonde hair and golden eyes gave him the look of an angel, while my red hair and green eyes just made me an oddity in this town. Luckily, I kept an extra eyeliner pen and mascara tube in my bag. I just needed to find it.

"Hey Jace?" I barely raised my voice, knowing Jace would hear me just fine from the living room. His head popped around the frame, and smirk already on his face.

"Yes my oh so quiet house guest? Do you need something?" I managed to hold back a giggle and keep an annoyed look on my face.

"I need my bag. Did you bring it in last night or is it still in your car?"

"Car. I was more concerned about keeping you thawed out. Why? Is there something you need in it?" I nodded my head, silently praying he wouldn't ask me what I needed from it. Saying I only needed my makeup from it seemed silly when asking him.

"What do you need from it that's so important?" Damn it. I sighed, put my palm to my forehead.

"Nothing, forget about it. I forgot the door was frozen shut. I'll just wait till it's thawed out." I made to go back to the closet when Jace grabbed my wrist and held me back.

"If you really need something from it, I'll find a way to get it Clary. You don't have to tell me what it is." He moved to start down the stairs, until I grabbed his arm to stop him.

"It's not important Jace. It's just something I usually have with me and I felt odd without it, that's all." Jace looked into my eyes, trying to see if I was telling the truth. I was telling the truth; just not one hundred percent of the information was there.

"Clary, I think your pretty with makeup on, but your beautiful without it." My heart stopped, and my stomach felt as if it had butterflies in it again. How did he know what I wanted? Jace turned his body towards me, his hand stroking my face with a tenderness I had never seen him display.

"Why now, Jace?" We both knew I was talking about his sudden display of feelings for me. My eyes were searching his, looking for an answer. After all I had been through in high school, why was he doing this to me?

"Why not now?" With that, he caressed my face once more and then disappeared somewhere in the hall.

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><p><strong>Sorry the chapter is mainly dialog, but Jace making his feelings towards Clary slowly known will play a large part in the story. :) <strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Get ready to swoon Clace fans! Enjoy!**

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><p>The next few days were uneventful, seeing as we were stuck in the house. I drew for most of the time, while Jace disappeared into the room beside his bedroom. I was still very confused about what happened three nights ago, but tried to put it off as Jace being, well, Jace. I had been drawing absentmindedly for the past hour, and looked down to see a sketch of a man and a women standing on the beach at sunset, her arms around his neck and his arms around her waist, staring into each other's eyes with loving smiles on their faces. With a jolt, I realized the woman had long curly hair, and the man... It was me and Jace. I gasped and dropped the sketchbook, my heart beating wildly.<p>

"Clary? Are you okay?" I heard Jace's footfalls coming towards the room, and quickly flipped to a couple pages ahead. I managed to do a quick sketch of a lily with a 'mystic' swirling background before Jace opened the door. I tried to look as calm as possible, but my heart was still racing as if I had ran a marathon.

"I heard you scream. Everything okay?" I managed to look confused, and shrug my shoulders. I looked back down at my sketchpad, and continued to shade the lily. Jace sat down across from me on the bed, taking a peek at the lily. He whistled appreciatively and looked up at me.

"You really are a good artist, sketching or painting. Maybe I should have you decorate downstairs so my guests will quit saying it looks so plain." I fell backwards on the bed, groaning.

"I knew you were going to say that." Jace chuckled and grabbed my ankle, pulling me closer so that he could see my face again. I felt my face heat up, and awkwardly looked up at him.

"The door's thawed out, and it's dinner time. I figured we could go to that restaurant, Taki's. My treat." Was Jace asking me out on a date? I felt my cheeks flame up again, and tried desperately to stay calm.

"Taki's? Isn't that a fancy restaurant? I don't have anything nice to wear that would be appropriate for a place like that."

"Ah, but you do." Jace pulled a large, flat black box from behind him and placed it in front of me. I raised an eyebrow, giving Jace an incredulous look.

"You're kidding me. Not only are you letting me stay with you, but I'm also eating your food and you've bought me clothes and supplies. It's too much Jace! I can't accept this." I also can't accept that you're a decent human being and I might be developing feelings for you.

"Just look at it this way. You going to dinner with me will be my payment. I won't accept cash or any other type of payment- you have no choice. It's seven right now and our reservations are for eight-thirty, so you have an hour to get ready." Jace left before I could say anything, leaving me with my mouth hanging open. I groaned, and drug the black box towards me.

An hour later, I was attempting to pin my hair up with shaking hands. I had to stop and wipe my sweaty hands on the towel lying on the counter.

"Why am I so nervous? It's just Jace who is just a friend and is just taking me out to dinner. It's no big deal." I continued to push pins into my curls, until only a few were artfully hanging down around my face. Now finished, I took a step back to take in my appearance. Red curls spilled over a blushing face with emerald eyes lined in black and framed by thick lashes. A strapless dress of deep shimmering blue hung down to my ankles, a slit running to my upper thigh. I shook my head, not believing the woman in the mirror was me. I usually felt very plain and timid, but the woman staring back at me was exotic and beautiful.

"Clary, we need to leave." I heard Jace knock on my door and jumped. I took in a shaky breath, checking my hair for any stray curls one more time.

"I'm coming." I slipped my black heels on, praying the ice outside was melted. Jace was waiting by the front door checking his watch when I came through the entryway. My heart went into overdrive at the sight of Jace. I remember him in a suit at prom, but I didn't remember him looking this good. Jace muttered a single word, but I didn't manage to catch it due to the sound of my heart drowning out any other noise.

"What did you say, Jace?"

"I, uh, nothing. I didn't say anything. Let's go."

Dinner was uneventful, filled with simple conversation and excellent food. Surprisingly I had a good time, with Jace making me laugh to the point of crying. On the way home, we walked closer than we had on the way there, brushing hands a couple times.

"You've really changed since high school, Jace. I'm glad though, because now I feel like I'm seeing the real you and not the fake you." Jace held out his arm, an offering for me to take. Seeing as how sweet he was being this evening, I decided to take it. What could be the harm?

"I really hurt you in before, didn't I?" I shook my head, trying to find a way to explain to him how I felt in high school without telling him I used to like him.

"You didn't exactly hurt me, so much as embarrassed me and made me angry pretty much every day. Remember the day in science when you spilled that animal blood on me, and I got really mad? I wasn't angry about you spilling it on me, but I was angry that you got it on my brand new white shoes." Jace chuckled, prompting me to stop walking an step away from him. Jace gripped my arm and pulled me closer, closing any space left between us.

"I do owe you an apology, but first I think I should say it wasn't animal blood. I brought in a pack of red kool aid with me to class that day and mixed it with a small amount of vinegar, and it wasn't meant to be spilled on you. It just so happened that you tripped over your own feet when I was on my way to the real target." I felt my eyes go wide, the anger I had held onto slipping away.

"Seriously? Who were you going to 'spill' it on?" Jace put his head down, cheeks flaming red for a moment.

"You're still going to be mad at me. I was headed for Simon. I heard him call me a pompous bastard earlier. I guess I know where he got that name from now." Jace gave me a look of amusement, remembering what I had called him repeatedly yesterday when he kept beating me on a Wii game.

"I'm not mad about that. Although Izzy might be when she finds out."

"Why would Izzy get mad?"

"I take it you don't know Izzy and Simon have been dating for the past year." Jace stopped this time, looking at me like I had grown a second head.

"They're dating?" I nodded my head with smug smile, and tugged Jace to start walking again. We walked for a minute or so in silence, until I heard Jace mutter something about murdering Simon and checking Isabelle's sanity. I playfully slapped his arm, laughing at the thought of Isabelle more than likely beating Jace up for 'checking her sanity'.

"Play nice, they're good together. She's made him not as awkward and he's calmed her down."

"I guess you're right. I wondered why I hadn't heard about guys she's made cry for awhile." I couldn't help but laugh, picturing Isabelle making boys cry.

"I remember when Isabelle- crap!" I felt my heel hit the ice, but couldn't stop myself from sliding. I closed my eyes waiting for the pain of hitting the concrete, but it never came. I opened my eyes cautiously to Jace looking down at me with wide eyes. The arm that had been linked with mine was now securely around my waist, the other gripping my free hand tightly. I let out a sigh of relief, along with a giggle. Jace grinned while setting me back on my feet.

"See? You just let gravity get the best of you too often." I shook my head with a smile still on my face, secretly missing the feel of Jace's arms around me. Jace put his hand under my chin, so he could look me in the face. I felt my cheeks heat up again, which seemed to happen all too often lately.

"Remember when you asked what I said before we left, and I said nothing? I actually said 'gorgeous'. Although I love how your hair is pinned up," My breath caught as one arm snaked around my waist pulling me closer, and the other slipping behind my head. He pulled the pins out, letting red curls fall all around my face.

"I like your hair better this way." His face was inches from mine, sending goose bumps down my arms.

"Breathe, Clary." I took in a shaky breath, blushing even harder. Jace ran his fingers through my hair, making me moan involuntarily. Jace leaned in even closer, making it hard for me to remember to breathe.

"You're cold Clary, let's go home." Home? Could Jace possibly be home for me? His arm slipped around my waist like when he caught me, sending warmth through my body. I rested my head on his shoulder, enjoying the moment.

Yeah. Jace could be home for me one day, hopefully.

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><p><strong>Clace! I felt like I was forcing the chapter, until I got to Jace and Clary walking back and then the words just started flowing! Reviews are welcomed, but not required! <strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**A little short, and a little bland, but I know you all will love the ending.**

**Edit 6/1/15: So as I began to start writing chapter 14, I was reviewing over the other chapters and noticed, much to my annoyance, that the whole half end of this story was missing. I've re-written what I could remember of the ending, although all I knew was the last line. The back-up chapters are all on a flash drive, which is now dead, thus leaving me clueless. If I've changed something and you know what was supposed to go there and prefer it, please PM me and I'll do my best to change it back.**

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><p>"Are you gonna stay the night? Are you gonna stay the night? Oh oh oh oh oh are you gonna stay the night?" I groaned, mentally cursing Jace for messing with my ringtones on my phone again. Squinting against the light from the display, I recognized Maia's number.<p>

"Hey Maia." I closed my eyes and turned so I was facing the back of the couch. I had stayed up late last night on Jace's laptop surfing the internet, and had fallen asleep on the couch.

"Geez, you sound like you had a rough night. Did you go out and get trashed? Find a little night time company?" Maia's voice held that excitement of doing something out of the ordinary, and I had to stifle a snort.

"I did not get trashed, and I am not hung over. I did go out though." She gasped on the other end, excitedly whispering to someone.

"Hello, whispering is rude Maia!" I heard her giggle and come back to the phone.

"Sorry! So who did you go out with last night? Let me guess, Jace Wayland!" I heard her laughing on the other end. Good guess Maia.

"Actually..."

"Clary! You didn't! You hate him, remember? He ruined your new shoes and pretty much made high school miserable for you!"

"I know, but a lot of weird stuff happened." I went on to explain getting locked out of my car, Jace forcing me to get in his car, the hotel proposition, and finally Jace making me stay with him. I left out the parts where he dropped me in the Jacuzzi and the moment we had last night on the street, but Maia was still reeling.

"You like him! Usually when you talk about Jace you can hear the distaste in your voice but now it's gone!" I scoffed, but didn't exactly say no.

"Well, lucky for you you're gonna have an extra week with your new boy toy. The conference got extended one week, and guess who's here? The guys who could unlock your car! How's that for a coincidence? I guess it worked out for you in the end." Maia was crackling again while I just pulled the blanket over my face. Maia was being so... well Maia.

"Gosh, sorry Clare! Well I need to go, I figured I would call and tell you I'd be gone another week so you wouldn't freak out when I didn't show up." We said our goodbyes, and I snuggled back into the couch. I pulled the blanket tighter around me, trying to remember if I had fallen asleep with it or not last night. I had a creeping suspicion Jace put it on me after I fell asleep.

"Come on, Clary. You need to get up and eat something. It's already eight." I moaned, moving so that I was lying face down on the couch. I heard Jace sigh and sit down on the edge of the couch.

"Clary, you need to eat. It's not optional."

"No." I groaned out, just wanting to sleep. After a couple minutes of silence, I felt my body relax and figured Jace had gone away. I was wrong. He poked me in the sides, causing me to shriek and jump up. Unfortunately my legs were tangled in the blanket, sending me crashing into the ground. It didn't really hurt, but I felt like it was appropriate to say 'ow' and glare at Jace, who was snickering. I freed a leg and kicked him gently while getting up.

"What's for breakfast captain smart ass?" I stretched, feeling stiff joints pop and muscles loosen up.

"That's Lieutenant Captain Smart Ass to you, Miss Fray, and I figured I would let you pick since your appetite seems so sparse." I rolled my eyes and dragged myself to the kitchen and sat down on the stool I had claimed for myself four days ago. It seemed like forever ago I was being carried over the shoulder of a man I hated and shoved into his car. I examined my fingers, appreciating the normal color they had.

"French toast. No syrup." Jace flipped the spatula in his hand and bowed, sweeping out with his other hand. I smirked and put my head down on my arms, promising myself I would just close my eyes for a second.

"Hey you, wake up. I won't be as nice as I was this morning waking you up." My head shot up, my tongue sticking out at him.

"You call scaring me half to death and making me fall off the couch nice? Remind me never to get on your bad side." Jace put the dipped bread in the sizzling pan on the stove, and turned to lean across the island.

"I'm not sure Clary. I think you might like my bad side." A devilish grin appeared on his face, making blood rush to my face. Jace reached across the island, stroking my cheek.

"I love how easy it is to get a reaction out of you." Then he turned around, cooking and whistling as if nothing had ever happened.

After too many plates of french toast and some morning banter, I retreated to the living room with Jace's laptop to check my e-mail again for any client requests. I hummed as I scrolled aimlessly, ignoring anything not related to work. Which was pretty much every single one.

"Damn, nothing."

"No work huh? That's what about three weeks now?" I nodded, closing the lid and placing it gently on the coffee table. Jace jumped the back of the couch, landing right beside me.

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you checking you e-mail so often for jobs? Is it-" I interrupted him, laughing and stretching out to put my feet up on the coffee table.

"No, it's not about money. I saved up enough my first year doing this so I wouldn't have to worry if I went a while without getting any work. I just want something to do besides watch TV. and play video games." Jace got up and offer a hand to me. I took it and let him pull me to my feet, and then let him lead me down the hall to the room he always disappeared into.

"I think I may have a solution to your boredom, if you're willing to learn." He pushed open the door, revealing a full gym with a sparing area in the center. I felt Jace let go of my hand so I could walk forward and explore. I ran my hand along the punching bag hanging in the right corner, visualizing Jace dealing blow after blow and sweat pouring down his face... I shook my head and moved on to the weight training equipment and finally back to the entryway where Jace was standing.

"This is amazing. I knew you were athletic in high school, but this is just, wow." Jace smirked, his hand finding my lower back and pushing me towards the punching bag.

"If you are so bored, then perhaps I can teach you to throw a proper punch. Despite your impressive reflexes, the little knife you keep in your boot won't always be available to you." I nodded, already walking over to the set up of kickboxing gloves.

Two hours later, I was pouring sweat and grimacing as the small stabs of pain ran up my arms. I had been beating the crap out of the bag as Jace watched and fixed my form, and I took all of my anger built up over the years out on the bag. I shrugged my shoulders in an attempt to dislodge the sweat-soaked t-shirt from my body and hit the bag with all of the force I could muster.

"All right, that's enough of making the bag and your muscles hate you for the day. Go take a shower and I'll make dinner."

"But I don't wanna leave yet." After keeping in my feelings for so long it felt good to release some of the anger that had built up. Jace motioned for my hands so I gave in and held up my hands. He undid the straps around my wrists and tossed the gloves on the rack.

"Your bones aren't used to that kind of force for so long yet, so you could end up with a stress fracture."

"Better a stress fracture than actual stress." I muttered, rubbing our the kinks in my wrist from being held still so long.

"Stress? You're stressed? Clary what are you stressed about?" His hands came up to land on my shoulders, holding me in place. I brushed his hands off and started to walk away.

"I need a shower."

~.~.~.~.~.~.

I ran my hands through my hair and stopped them on my face. I groaned and walked out to the living room, flopping on the couch. I wasn't sure how to handle being around Clary most of the time, because my instincts wanted to push her away to protect her, but I had nothing to protect her from. Sebastian had been locked away in a mental hospital after an incident on the subway. I quickly steered my thoughts in another direction from that day.

"First I need to make dinner for Clary. Second I need to fix all of this between us. If we can't be something more than friends then I can at least be someone she can trust and count on."

Clary took a long time in the shower, like I expected, so I took my time in making a nice dinner with the full course meal. If my natural charm and good looks couldn't win her over, then maybe my amazing cooking skills would.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

"What's all of this?" I looked at the table in front of me, laid out with a mass quantity of food. Salads were already prepared with dressing on the side, a delicious-looking steak was waiting to the side of the salad, with a side of what looked like fried potatoes. Wine was poured in elegant glasses and strawberries were assorted in the middle of the table in a dish with a ring around the edge filled with chocolate. Jace was relaxed by the counter, looking like nothing was odd.

"Dinner, why?" He continued to look almost bored as he walked over to the waiting chair and pulled it out for me. I walked over and sat down, secretly impressed at the layout. We ate in silence, the thought of my outburst earlier hanging over our heads.

"Did you have a nice shower?"

"That's kind of an odd and personal question."

"Most people would love to know about my showers."

"Most people think your a pompous ass with an over-inflated ego."

"Does most people include you?"

"I'd lead the fan club if I could."

"So you'd like to lead my fan club, eh?"

"Pompous ass alert."

"Glad to know. Are you still stressed?"

"No."

"So you were stressed?"

"No!"

"Then you lied earlier because you're still stressed." I jumped up and slammed my hands down on the table.

"Just drop it Jace! I'm stressed out because of you!" Jace stood up and walked over to me, causing me to walk backwards until I felt the counter pressing into me. His hands rested on either side of me, trapping me there.

"Why do I stress you out?"

"You just do, okay! Now let me go."

"Not until you give me an actual answer. Why. Do. I. Stress. You. Out?" I growled and tried to step on his foot. He moved forward and pressed his whole body against mine to pin me. I tried to look away, but his hand came up to grab my chin, forcing me to look at him. I glared until I finally spoke.

"You make me feel confused and that stresses me out, okay!" The silence hung heavy between us, neither knowing what to say, so I continued after a few minutes.

"I want to hate you, just like I always have, but now suddenly I see you in a different light and I think I actually like you now." I felt like time stop as I spoke, all of the blood in my body rushing around violently. This felt as terrifying as hanging off of a cliff.

"You like me? As in like me, or like-like me?"

"Jace can you please not joke around right now!"

"I'm sorry Clary, I joke when I'm nervous or scared and right now I'm both." I scoffed— as if the pompous ass that is Jace Wayland could feel fear.

"Yeah right."

"Falling in love is just as hard for me as it is you Clary!"

"You don't know, wait what?" I felt tears begin to well up in my eyes. Jace's eyes got big when he saw the drops and he quickly wiped them away, although plenty more followed.

"I hate myself for making you hate me, but I can't lose you again Clary."

"Jace, why now? Why all of this now? I want to forget what happened in the past, I really do but I'm so confused right now..." The tears started to flow faster, and I had to restrain the sob that wanted to escape my lips. Both hands came up to caress my face, his thumb trailing along my lower lip.

"I love you Clary."

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><p><strong>Yes, you can scream in excitement. If any family members look at your weird, just tell them I told you too :)<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**Words cannot describe the love I am feeling from you all right now. Thank you everyone who has reviewed! I'm glad you all are enjoying the story, as I was initially scared it would turn out to be crap and I would die in the hate flames but the exact opposite has happened! When I began to think about writing a Clace story, I wanted it to be orginal, but not so original that people would look at it and just be like "what the hell is this?"  
>But anyway thank you for the reviews! I'll try my best to continue the quick updates!<strong>

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><p>I broke away from the kiss, planting a hand on his chest and pushing. Jace's hands were still planted on my hips, keeping us closer than I'd like at the moment. His eyes locked onto mine, the hurt in them thinly veiled. My heart constricted and I had to fight bringing him close to me again. If I was going to push aside the hurt accumulated over the years, I was going to need answers first.<p>

"Wait! If you loved me, then why did you ignore me in high school and basically make it seem like we would never even be friends, even if we were the last people on Earth?" Jace looked up, groaning and then met my eyes again. A grimace stole over his face, instantly letting me know whatever he was about to say was going to be the truth. Jace never looked this serious.

"Sebastian."

"Sebastian? The kid with the white hair that always hung out with your group?" Jace nodded, laughing darkly under his breath.

"I didn't want to hang out with him, but somehow he was a permanent attachment. I personally didn't like him because he had a tendency to steal what wasn't his. Remember the bad break up Kailea and Eric went through? That was caused by Sebastian. I pretended you were dirt to me, to keep Sebastian away from you. I knew if I made a move on you, he would too. I only difference was I wanted your heart for real; he wanted it to break and throw away. So I pretended like I hated you to keep him far away." One by one, my walls of hatred for Jace came crashing down letting a flood of emotions break through. I felt tears well up in my eyes again, except this time they weren't because of frustration or sadness.

"So all of the insults and the pranks weren't to hurt me? They were to protect me?" Jace nodded, the regret shining in his golden eyes.

"Oh Jace!" I threw my arms around his neck, burying my face. I knew my tears were staining his shirt, but I didn't care. I felt his arms wrap around my waist tighter, his face in my hair.

"Clary, I was so afraid but now I'm not. I knew Sebastian would break you, and you would never be the same again. I would've hated myself to have let you get hurt like that." I nodded, squeezing my arms tighter. Jace lifted me up slightly, my legs automatically locking around him. He carried me a little ways down the hall, until I heard a door opening. I didn't lift my head, but I knew we were in his bedroom. Moments later I was tucked against Jace's side, never wanting to be anywhere else ever again.

I woke up to fingers stroking through my hair, carefully working through the knots without pulling. Jace had one arm wrapped around my waist, the other playing with my hair. I didn't want to open my eyes in case I was dreaming, but luckily I wasn't. Jace knew I had woken up and drew me closer to him, kissing my cheek. I giggled and opened my eyes. Jace was staring down at me, a soft smile on his face. He ran his free hand through my hair again, and kissed me. When he pulled away, I couldn't help but ask him a question.

"Am I sleeping beauty or something?"

"No. I'm more partial to gorgeous red curls than flat blonde hair." I playfully smacked his arm, and drew myself closer so there wasn't any space between us. Jace kissed me again, the electricity running through me as it had the first time we kissed.

"How long was I asleep?"

"Six hours. I certainly didn't mind." He nuzzled into my neck, nipping playfully. I giggled again, thanking whoever for this perfect moment. Twenty-four hours ago we were easing into an unstable friendship, and now I felt complete.

"Hey Jace, what are we?"

"Humans." I raised an eyebrow, a small smile gracing my lips.

"All right I'll be serious, but only for a couple minutes. It burns me." I rolled my eyes, but propped myself up on an elbow to look him in the eye.

"We are what you want us to be, Clary. I don't want to force anything you're not ready for." I wrapped my arms around his neck, resting my head against his chest again.

"I wanna be happy, actually happy for the first time in a while, and you make me happy Jace." His arm slid around my back, holding me to him.

"I love you Clary."

"I love you too Jace. Thanks for basically kidnapping me off the streets."

"I need to find the guy who almost took your door off, punch them, and then thank them." I groaned, and closed my eyes to slip back into oblivion.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

His dark eyes followed the slender figure in shimmering blue with red curls, and the male in black dress pants and a white button-up shirt with blonde hair as they exited Taki's, laughing and smiling. Sebastian felt a sinister smile come across his lips, a plan effortlessly formulating in his mind. He closed the blinds and sat back down on his bed, thinking.

"So Jace and Clary. I knew he was hiding something from me in high school, and now I know what. Jace knew I didn't like liars, and I still don't. Perhaps I need to remedy that ignorance."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

When I woke up the second time, I was alone. Still half asleep I reached behind myself and felt for Jace, noticing how the bed was still warm. I groaned, not wanting to leave the warm sanctity of Jace's bed.

"Jace." I yelled Jace's name, just loud enough for him to hear me. I heard footsteps in the hall followed by the door opening and a head of blonde curls popping through the doorway.

"Are you okay Clary?" I yawned, stretching myself out on his bed.

"Yeah. I just wanted to know where you were at to avoid getting up." I pulled his warm comforter up to my neck, cuddling down into the soft fabric. Jace grinned and strolled over to his bed, sitting on the edge beside me.

"I take it you slept well last night?" His fingers delicately ran through my hair, causing me to shut my eyes in bliss. I heard him chuckle and move to lie beside me on the blanket. I nodded, not wanting to speak.

"Who knew it would only take me five days to get you in my bed?" I opened my eyes and smacked his arm, trying to give Jace a hurt face, but failing miserably. I couldn't lie- I did like being in his bed even if it wasn't in the aspect Jace's barely hidden innuendo was. We lay in the bed for the remainder of the morning, until both of our growling stomachs forced us to get up and make breakfast. I watched Jace move as he whisked eggs in a bowl for french toast, enjoying the rippling of his muscles, until something crossed my mind.

What happens in two weeks when Maia comes back?


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm not exactly happy with this chapter, but at least it's something. I may go back in a week or two and rewrite it to make it better, but I'll make sure to let you all know. :)**

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><p>I was sitting in front of the TV. watching a movie with little yellow creatures running around, yelling nonsense at each other and continually smacking the one named Dave. They looked like Twinkies in overalls, but their characters in general made me forget about the thoughts that have been plaguing me for the past few days. What would happen when Maia came back in two weeks? I raked my hands through my hair in frustration, tears pooling in my eyes. I had zero solutions in my head to ease this silent suffering- it felt almost as if I had a block between my thoughts, preventing me from coming up with any plans at all. I've been trying to avoid Jace as much as possible, so he wouldn't ask me what was wrong. I felt the gap growing between us steadily, and it was my entire fault. I was terrified of losing Jace, and the fact I had grown so close to Jace scared me almost as much. I had never been close to anyone besides my mom, Luke, Simon, and Maia, and I was scared to lose any of them, but something felt different about the thought of losing Jace. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth to void the unwanted thoughts from my mind.<p>

"Clary? Why are you still in here?" I angrily wiped away the tears that had slipped down my face. I couldn't let Jace see me like this.

"I, um, couldn't sleep so I came in here to watch a movie." I kept my eyes on the screen, focusing on the little girl screaming something about unicorns. Jace sat beside me and pulled me onto his lap, his arms looping around my waist. He kissed his way from my shoulder up to my neck, nipping occasionally to leave marks on my pale skin. I wanted to surrender to his kisses, but that stubborn question caused me to gently push him away. Jace growled in irritation, and pushed me off his lap and back onto the couch. I felt icy fear grip me and worried that I had pushed Jace too far, until I felt his hands pin me on the couch.

"Clary, I've had it with you avoiding me for the past three days. Tell me what's wrong." His voice was hard, but as always his golden eyes told me what he was really feeling. I bit my lip, debating the direction this conversation could take if I told him the truth. If I told him nothing, it could end in us getting into a huge fight or Jace comforting me even though he doesn't know what for. If I told him what was really on my mind, then... I'm not sure what would happen.

"I know that look, Clary. Tell me the truth, please."

"It's nothing. I just feel odd, that's all." Guilt shot through me when the hurt flickered across his face. A second later it was gone and Jace was picking me up, carrying me to his bed for the night.

_"Maia? Is that you?" I slowly sat up in my bed, immediately noticing the unusual silence in the apartment. Usually the sound of cars or at least a TV left on in a neighboring apartment was audible, but there was nothing. I wasn't panicking yet, but my heart started to speed up slightly. My feet touched the cold floor, sending a chill up my spine as I made my way into the hall._

_"Maia?" I didn't get a response, but noticed the kitchen light was on. I must have left it on by accident. Cautiously I poked my head around the corner, just to double check there was no danger lurking around the corner. I laughed to myself, feeling stupid for thinking there was someone in the apartment at this time of night. Flicking the light back off, I felt my way through the hallway and back to my room cursing when I caught my foot on a box, but the moment I stepped through the door an arm wrapped around my waist, a sharp blade pressing painfully against my throat. Fingers pressed harshly into my ribs, most likely leaving bruises. I felt a scream working its way up, until the knife pressed hard enough to draw blood._

_"Scream and I will not hesitate to press my blade clear through your pretty little throat." I bit my tongue and tried to get my heart rate down- if I didn't die from this knife I would die from a heart attack. I had to fight to keep myself from struggling against the intruder as he drug me over to my bed and threw me down. His body was lean but obviously strong, with a ninja-like wrap covering his face. His eyes were the only part of his face that was visible, but the solid black of them caused terror more than if he had covered them. Before I could move to escape he was on top of me, a hand creeping up my shirt. I started to struggle against him, fear making me start to shake and tears slide down my face. I managed to get one of my hands free to hit the intruder, only to be met with the back of his hand. Black spots danced across my vision, threatening to take me under._

_"You stupid slut! How dare you hit me?" The spots disappeared the minute his fingers gripped the waist band of my shorts. I started to thrash around, desperate to keep his hands off of me. He slapped me again, and I heard the ripping of fabric. Despite the knife, I let out a scream of pure terror. The intruder snarled, and I heard the sound of a zipper..._

"Clary! Wake up! Come on Clary wake up!" Jace's voice ripped me out of my nightmare, his hands on my shoulders shaking me. My eyes flew open, tears already blinding me to the point of blurring everything. I choked out a sob, my arms wrapping tightly around his neck. Jace moved his hands from my shoulders to around my waist, holding me tightly against him while murmuring comforting nothings into my ear. I'm not sure how long I cried, but when I finally stopped Jace pulled away and wiped the tears from my face before lying us both down and pulling the comforter back up to our shoulders. His arms around me made me feel safe, protected from that awful nightmare. I closed my eyes as Jace stroked my hair, but opened them again a second later when an image of a knife against my throat appeared. I heard myself gasp and jump, my heart beating wildly again.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Jace's voice was soothing, erasing the other voice stuck in my head. I turned and buried my head into his chest, desperately wishing the horrible images would disappear.

"I dreamed someone broke into my apartment, held a knife to my throat, and tried to rape me. He was unzipping his pants and ripping off my shorts when you woke me up." The silence hung heavy between us, neither moving a muscle. Jace growled into the skin of my neck, his arms tightening to the point of discomfort. I put my hand on his on my stomach, letting him know I was okay- or at least trying to convince him I was.

"Clary."

"Yes?"

"Promise not to freak out or hit me?"

"Yes, but why would I try to h-"

"Stay here with me. When Maia comes back, stay here with me so I can keep you safe." I scrambled for an excuse to refuse him, but came up empty handed. Besides the fact we had only started speaking a week ago, I honestly could not think of a reason not to. Jace made me feel safe and wanted; he made me feel loved.

"What happens if things go wrong between us Jace?"

"I won't let them." I removed my head from its resting place on his chest and looked at him.

"Promise?"

"I promise to always protect you and love you Clary." I gently untangled my arms from his and pushed on his chest, urging him to lay on his back. I cuddled up to Jace, one hand on his chest and the other tucked against mine.

"Maia's going to talk my ear off when I tell her." Jace kissed my forehead and tightened his grip on me.


	8. Chapter 8

Despite sleeping in Jace's arms since my nightmare, I hadn't slept much since then. Despite successfully hiding when I woke up from a nightmare, I know Jace has noticed the dark circles under my eyes as well as my trouble focusing. I would zone out constantly, not focusing on anything but breathing. I had fallen asleep on Jace while watching a movie, but jolted awake a couple minutes later by an unbidden shock of fear. This went on for about three days before Jace finally said something.

"Clary, you really need to get some sleep. You look awful." I know I should be offended by his blunt remark, but he was only speaking the truth. Jace grabbed my chin and tilted my head so I was facing him.

"Tell me how I can help Clary. I hate seeing you so miserable." I shrugged my shoulders, wincing slightly at the pinch of my muscles. When I was younger, Simon and I would pull all-nighters and watch entire anime series. I enjoyed the time in general, but always hated when the morning came. My entire body felt like it was buzzing, but severely slowed down from exhaustion. I swear I could literally feel my organs struggling to function, especially my brain and muscles. Now was no different, especially since I had only gotten a total of five hours of sleep in the past three days. Jace noticed my discomfort and winced.

"Would a massage help?" I shook my head.

"They only hurt because I'm exhausted."

"Come on." Jace took my hand and led me to what used to be my bedroom, and told me to sit on the bed while he disappeared into the walk in closet. A couple minutes later he came back out with two small pieces of black fabric in hand.

"Is that a bathing suit?" Jace grinned and tossed it to me.

"Yup, and you need to change into it."

"Why? It's the middle of winter! What could we possibly do?" Jace's grin grew, and he stepped out the room while shutting the door. I sighed, and went ahead and changed. As soon as I finished tying the top, Jace knocked and stepped in the room. He raised an eyebrow, a predatory look crossing his face. He stalked across the room, picking me up so I could lock my legs around him like I did the night we confessed our feelings. Jace's hands ran along my legs, sending shivers up my spine and causing goose bumps to appear as he eyed me with appreciation. I felt my face blush and kissed Jace to distract him. When Jace pulled away he kissed up my neck, leaving marks. I tilted my head back, giving him better access to my neck until a moaned slipped from my lips. Jace paused in his ministrations, and I froze in horror. Where had that come from? I let my eyes drop down to his chest when he drew back to look at me. After a minute I reluctantly looked back up, only to see that stupid grin on Jace's face.

"What?" Jace dove into my neck again, kissing his way up to my ear.

"What do I have to do to get you to make that sound again?" I blushed scarlet and tried my best to glare at Jace, but failed miserably.

"Come on, I want to show you something. It'll help you relax." Jace set me back down on the floor, taking my hand and leading me to the training room.

"Jace why are we in the training room?"

"Just hold on Miss Impatient and watch." Jace led me across the room and to a door I had thought led to a dressing room of some sorts, which was ridiculous considering this was Jace's house and not a regular training facility. Why in the world would he have a separate changing room if it was his house? When Jace opened the door, I gasped. Inside was a glass room with artificially fogged windows to keep prying eyes out and a cozy looking hot tub in the middle. Without even waiting for Jace, I darted forward and slipped into the blissful warmth letting it sooth my aching body. It didn't make me feel one hundred percent better, but the bubbling water did loosen up my muscles enough to allow me free movement. I closed my eyes and sunk down into the water to let my head rest against the edge until Jace slipped in beside me and pulled me onto his lap. Usually I would blush at the close contact, but I was in heaven and too far gone to care. When Jace's strong hands began to knead into my shoulder and neck, I had to fight to keep from relaxing so much I would slip under the water.

"Feel better?" I nodded, letting a sigh escape my lips when he worked a particularly painful spot out of my back.

"Remember when I used to call you a spoiled rich kid in high school?" Jace chuckled and murmured a yes.

"I am officially glad you are in fact a spoiled rich kid. Otherwise you wouldn't have worked as hard as you have to get all of this." Jace let out a full laugh, and paused to twist my hair up on top of my head in a bun.

"I'm glad to; otherwise I'd have a rather cranky Clary on my hands right now instead of the wonderfully relaxed and happy Clary that is sitting on my lap."

"Remind me to smack you later. I'm too relaxed right now to move."

"Enjoying the massage? Maybe another time I'll show you what else I can do with my hands..."

"If it feels as good as this then I'll take you up on that offer." It slipped out before my brain even registered what Jace had said.

"Ah crap, I meant-" Jace cut me off by nipping lightly where my neck and shoulder joined. I let out another moan, this one louder than the first one.

"No take backs Clary. Read the contract carefully before signing." He whispered in my ear, sending another round of chills despite the heat of the hot tub. I groaned and tried not to imagine exactly what he had in mind.

Once Jace had literally worked every ache and pain from my shoulders and back, we just sat and talked while Jace played with my hands until I yawned and felt my eyes droop.

"Are you tired?" I nodded, fighting another incoming yawn.

"Perfect." Jace let me fall to the side so he could slip an arm under my legs and one behind my back, then carefully making his way out of the hot tub with me securely in his arms. By the time we reached his room I was about three seconds from passing out, until Jace told me to wait a second. I frowned and yawned again, just wanting to curl up in his bed but refraining due to me still being soaked. When he came back Jace had a pair of my comfy shorts, a shirt and underwear for me to put on.

"I'm gonna go change in the bathroom. Take as long as you like Clary." As he disappeared into the bathroom, I stripped out of what I now realized was a bikini, and into the underwear and shorts Jace had brought, but not the shirt. Without giving it much extra thought I walked into Jace's closet and grabbed the first t-shirt I saw. I tossed the other shirt at the wall and flopped ungracefully across his bed. Jace came back out from the bathroom ten minutes later, the creaking door alerting me of his presence.

"Come on sleepy head. Under the covers." I felt Jace pick me up with ease and slip under the covers with me, his arms constricting around me in their usual comforting brace. I hummed in pleasure, appreciating the sense of peace and safety I had been lacking the last three or so days.

"If we need to do this every night before bed, I'll do it for you Clary. Get some sleep." I felt his lips press against my cheek before I drifted off into a finally nightmare free and uninterrupted slumber.

When I woke up, I was fully rested and ecstatic I had actually gotten the sleep I needed. I stretched and felt Jace's arms tighten around my waist, pulling me back to him when I was done. He nuzzled into my neck, sighing and curling around me.

"Sleep well?" I nodded, humming in agreement. It was true- I felt refreshed and fantastic all around.

"Good. I wonder what did the trick. The hot tub? The massage? Sleeping in one of my t-shirts?" A teasing tone came into his voice when he mentioned the t-shirt, and I felt myself blush. Jace laughed again started to run his fingers through my hair like he does every morning. I let out a small moan of pleasure and relaxed into his arms.

"I'm not sure why, but I just really wanted to wear one of your t-shirts."

"Feel free to wear them anytime you want. Then I can take them off as well later." Jace started nipping at my neck to get me to moan, a giggle erupting from my lips when his fingers gripped my sides. Before I knew it, I was squalling and thrashing around trying to get Jace to stop tickling me. Eventually I managed to grab his wrists and pin them above his head while sitting on him. Unable to resist I gently released him and kiss him, happiness filling me. When we broke apart for air, Jace looped his arm around my back and pulled me flush with him. I sighed, hoping this would never end.

"I hope this never ends Clary. I love you so so so much."

"I was just thinking the same thing. I love you too Jace."

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><p><strong>This chapter felt <em>much<em> better. It flowed out a lot easier than the last one. Hope you all like it, and the real drama will start next chapter!  
>Reviews are very much appreciated but not required :)<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry about the lack of updates, school actually continued for a week or two uninterrupted, but now the snow is back and school has been cancelled for the rest of the week. This means more updates :) **  
><strong>To Guest reviewers: I don't mind these reviews, in fact I love them just as much, but I would greatly appreciate it if when you review to leave an identifier with it such as a number sequence or a name so I can respond to you in the next chapter.<strong>

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><p>"You what! Clary this amazing! You all will be so adorable. Are you all gonna get married? Has he already proposed? Will your Mom and Luke come in for the wedding? Can I be a bridesmaid or even the maid of honor? Oh my gosh this is all so exciting!" I pulled the phone away from my ear, wincing at Maia's shrieking.<p>

"Maia, calm down. We are not getting married and we're not engaged. He just asked me to move in is all." I knew how bad it would look to others if I moved in with him after only two weeks, but I was a grown woman damn it! After all I had been through in my life, from the bullying to the general feelings of displacement, I deserved a little bit of happiness without feeling guilt due to others' disapproval. I looked at the door anxiously, hoping Jace was still busy and not listening.

"Ah poo. You're no fun Clary."

"What does engagement or marriages have anything to do with fun?" I heard Maia sigh on the other end, probably rolling her eyes knowing full well I couldn't see her.

"Okay Clary, since you're going to get all technical with me I'm gonna get off of here and go back work on my reports. Be safe!" Huh?

"Be safe? What are you talking about?"

"You are so dense. Make him wrap it or be in pain nine months later. See ya in a couple weeks!" I was left gaping, the dial tone snapping me back to reality. I had never thought of things going that far, let alone a _baby_ coming into the mix later on. Would Jace even want kids? Do _I_ even want kids? I shook my head not even wanting to _begin_ thinking about anything in that direction.

"Hey." I tensed up when Jace hopped on the bed beside me, relaxing moments later. He always teased me about being jumpy, so I would try to hide when I flinched. I set the phone on the bedside table and buried my face in the soft pillow, letting out a frustrated groan.

"How'd telling Maia go?" I groaned again, immediately deciding not to tell Jace about Maia's rant on marriage and preventing children.

"That bad huh. Was she upset or angry?" I sat back up and pulled the pillow into my lap, resting my arms on it.

"Neither. Maia was... enthusiastic for lack of a better word."

"I was expecting something different. I'm not sure what that was, but definitely not enthusiasm." I let out a short laugh, falling backwards onto the bed again.

"You and me both."

"So what else did Maia say? You all were on the phone longer than it took to just be excited about it."

"Nice choice of words. We didn't really talk about anything else." I felt my cheeks flame, desperately wishing Jace to look away so he wouldn't see past my lie. He just raised an eyebrow, then pulled me into his arms and nuzzled my neck. I sighed in contentment, and chose to forget Maia's remarks.

~.~.~.~.~.~

Two days later, I found myself curled up on the couch wrapped in what I now considered my favorite blanket. I was shivering, the blanket pulled up tight against my neck, desperately wishing the nausea that had plagued me all day to vanish. Jace had left earlier that morning to go check on the Academy and make sure Izzy wasn't beating Alec up too bad, while I remained in bed for another hour before stumbling to the couch. Why was it when someone gets sick, they sleep on the couch rather than the bed?

I had drifted off into an uneasy sleep, until I felt a draft from somewhere. Not putting much thought into it I pulled the blanket tighter, allowing myself to drift back into the haze. I felt like I was in a dream, everything in the room was hazy when my eyes would flutter open for a moment. The television had a glowing blur around it, illuminating off of the coffee table. I shut my eyes again, and when I opened them I saw someone standing beside the television. I closed my eyes again just to open them again in a squint. The figure was gone- probably just my imagination. I slipped back into uneasy oblivion.

~.~.~.~.~.~

"Damn it Clary, if I'd known you were sick I wouldn't have left." I felt his strong arms slip under me, blanket and all, and lift me into his arms. I let out a pitiful sound that was a cross between a groan and a whimper. I vaguely registered Jace cursing before he put me back on his bed. I flinched and weakly clawed at the cold washcloth he had laid on my forehead.

"No, Clary. You have a fever and you need to leave it."

"No."

"Clary. We can go to the hot tub once your fever's gone if you leave it." Reluctantly I dropped my hand, remembering the bliss of the hot tub and Jace's amazing massage skills.

"Good girl."

"I'm not a dog."

"No, you're a Clary. A Clary is more relatable to a cat, as neither of them listens and tends to do the exact opposite they are told to do." I groaned, wanting to make a snarky remark back but not trusting myself to keep from losing my breakfast. Jace gave my hand a gentle squeeze before going to the refrigerator for a ginger ale. I sleepily opened my eyes when Jace came back, setting the glass on the table. He had a puzzled look on his face; I moved my head slightly to the side trying to ask him what was wrong.

"Did you by chance open the balcony door sometime this morning and not lock it?" I let my eyes fall shut again, mumbling that it was possible.

"Okay baby, get some sleep. I'll be right here if you need me." I felt the bed dip and his strong arms wrap around me, before I drifted off again.

~.~.~.~.~.~

"Come on, get up." I nudged Jace, trying to get him to move. He smiled and grabbed my wrist to pull me back down to him, but stopped as soon as his hand met bare skin at my waist. His eyes shot open, taking in my attire. I was wearing another bikini I had found in the closet of clothes he had gotten me. My fever was gone and I no longer felt as if I was going to lose the contents of my stomach, so I decided to take Jace up on his offer of the hot tub.

"You promised, Jace. Let's go." He stretched and held his hands up in surrender.

"Alright. Give me a minute to go find my trunks." I jumped up from the bed, clapping my hands in delight.

"You couldn't have waited for me?" I shook my head, sinking lower into the warm water to let the jets massage my back.

"I don't recall waiting last time either. What made you think I would this time?"

"That's true." Jace slid in across from me, pushing his tousled hair from his face. That simple movement was so... hot. I gave Jace a shy smile and moved so my legs were locked around his waist and my arms locked around him neck. I gave him a gentle kiss, enjoying the feel of his fingers skating across my back.

"Have I told you how glad I am you basically kidnapped me?" Jace trailed kisses up my neck, stopping to look at me.

"Hmm maybe once or twice." I playfully slapped his arm, kissing him again. As our kisses picked up intensity, Maia's words floated around in my head. I gasped and pulled back, water sloshing out of the hot tub. Jace gripped my waist, keeping me from pulling away any further.

"Hey, you okay? What happened?" I flushed, not wanting to tell Jace anything about that conversation.

"Nothing, just a passing thought." He pulled me closer, my legs locking tighter around him.

"Clary, if your uncomfortable about anything, _anything_, then please tell me." I bit my lip and placed my hands on his chest, quickly thinking it over. Did I want this with Jace?

"I'm uncomfortable just sitting here." Jace gave me an amused smile, before pulling me in for another kiss.

"Do you want to get out and go to the be-"

"Yes." I gasped when Jace picked me up, only to be silenced by his lips on mine.

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><p><strong>Yup, just go ahead and scream again. I know you want to :)<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry for the delay, I won't even bother with some lame excuse. Simple answer is just laziness, but this next chapter is quite juciy in the way of drama.**

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><p>"When Maia gets back, do you want me to go with you to help you pack, or would you rather let your things gradually drift over here?" Jace and I were laying in a tangled heap on the couch, the noises of a Disney movie drifting through the room. I hummed in thought, pretending to debate my answer.<p>

"How about you come with me, so Maia doesn't talk me to death or anything like that. Plus I think she really wants to meet you now that I don't hate you." Jace nuzzled my neck, tracing a line of soft kisses from my jaw line to the conjunction of my shoulder and neck. I giggled squirming when he nipped playfully.

"So I'm basically going as a shield and a distraction for you?"

"Yup."

"Well if that's all I am, I think I'm going to just go make dinner. Scrambled eggs sound good to you? I know your stomach is still iffy from when you were sick last week." I nodded, yawning while stretching after Jace had gotten up. A content smile slipped on my face, my eyes closing to embrace the happiness I was feeling- until my stomach decided to embrace a less warm and fuzzy feeling. I darted from the couch with a hand clamped over my mouth, stumbling into the bathroom and falling over the toilet before emptying my stomach of anything I had ate that morning. I groaned lowly, leaning against the bathtub and drawing my knees up to my chest to rest my head on them.

"Clary?" Jace popped his head around the corner, gasping when he saw me on the floor. He came to his knees beside me, brushing my hair back and tying it with a hair tie.

"You're still getting sick?" I nodded without lifting my head.

"Come on, I'm taking you to the doctor." For some unknown reason a cold chill shot through my veins, my mind screaming no. I forced myself to look up at Jace and rapidly shook my head.

"No, please Jace I'm fine. I just need to be more careful. I think I moved too quickly getting off the couch to go to the kitchen." Jace shook his head and gathered me up in his arms, the panic rising in me again.

"Jace, please don't make me." I let the tears threatening me to overtake me well up in my eyes, my bottom lip trembling making me look all that more pathetic. Jace sighed and took me to the bedroom where he tucked me in the bed, then kneeled on the floor so his face was level with mine. His fingers ran through my hair, barely catching in the mass of curls.

"I won't make you go to the doctor right now, but will you please go if you get sick again?"

"Yes, I'll go." Jace sighed in relief, his forehead resting on the bed. I heard him mumble a thank you before kissing me and leaving to finish dinner. I swallowed the bad feeling that had crept up in me from lying to Jace, but for some reason I just knew he couldn't take me to the doctor.

The minute Jace walked out the door after telling me goodbye, I darted to my cell phone and dialed a number I should have long ago.

"Hello?"

"Isabelle?"

"Clary! Hey what's up? We haven't talked in forever!" I smiled at Isabelle's enthusiasm, enjoying the fact that every time I called she greeted me this way.

"I have a problem and I need help." I heard a loud thump on the other end of the phone and some jingling.

"I'll be right over Clary! Sit tight!"

"Wait but Izzy," The dial tone made me toss my cell phone across the bed and groaned.

Isabelle burst into the house unannounced fifteen minutes later, the tea in my hands flying across the kitchen. My eyes were huge as Isabelle rushed over and grabbed my shoulders, shaking me while yelling something about me not dying on her watch. When she finally stopped, I gave her my best 'what the hell glare'.

"You done now?" Izzy grinned and adjusted the black leather jacket she donned.

"Hey, I could have kidnapped you and locked you in a room for examination."

"That just sounded creepy Izzy, please never say that again." She shrugged and the mischievous smile on her face slid into a more concern expression.

"Seriously though, what's up? You look kinda pale." I puffed my cheeks out while I exhaled, searching for the best way to explain what had been going on. I ended up sitting on one of the kitchen stools while Isabelle parked her butt on the counter while dangling her feet back and forth. I told her how me and Jace had been discussing plans for my moving in, then I started to get sick suddenly although it came and went with different scenarios. She listened intently, only interjecting a comment or question occasionally. I couldn't help but notice this was the quietest I had ever seen Isabelle. As I finished I could see the wheels turning in her head.

"Only certain things make you sick?" I nodded.

"And you usually feel better within fifteen minutes after getting sick?" Another nod.

"Either you have an allergy to a food or your with mini a you and Jace."

"A mini what?"

"A mini you and Jace. Like a baby?" I felt the blood drain out of my face and my legs give out. Izzy grabbed me before I could hit the floor and placed me on the couch gently. The world swam around me and I felt what little of my tea I drank before Isabelle came threatened to come back up. Isabelle grabbed a small trashcan from beside the desk in the living room, then held my hair back and I retched. When the dry heaves finally stopped, I laid on my back on the couch with an arm over my face.

I could possibly be . . . pregnant.

I felt nausea start to build back up and took a deep breath.

"I hate to tell you this Clary, but I'm pretty sure these are pregnancy symptoms. Have you thought about seeing a doctor?" I pulled myself into a sitting position and buried my head in my hands.

"I haven't because I don't wanna tip Jace off, not since I lied to him." I felt hot tears start to pour down my face, and pitiful sobs ripped from my throat. Isabelle had her arms wrapped around me, gently stroking my hair in an attempt to calm me. Eventually the tears stopped, and we just sat in silence. Isabelle let go of me and gently placed her hands on my shoulders to get a look at me.

"Do you want to go see a doctor? I'll take you." I let my head hang and shrugged weakly.

"I don't know Izzy. How can we go without Jace suspecting anything?"

"Stay the night at my place. I'll take you to the doctor, and if you do happen to be preggers then it'll give you a night and a morning to process things. Does that sound okay?" It actually wasn't a bad idea. Izzy called Jace while I packed a small bag, telling him that he was being selfish and she wanted some time with me too. She passed the phone to me to talk to Jace, where he doubled checked to make sure Izzy wasn't kidnapping or anything. After he told me he loved me we hung up, and Izzy snatched the phone back and the bag out of my hands.

"Come on girlie. We'll go to the doctors before we stop at my place, okay?" I sighed again and tried to swallow the bile rising in my throat again.

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><p><strong>Again, sorry about the delays. I'll try to update more often!<strong>


	11. Chapter 11

**To clear up any confusion Jace and Clary did, ahem..., at the end of chapter eight. I'm sorry about the confusion but I wanted to try and keep it ambiguous (fail on my part).** **If someone would like to PM me with suggestions on improvements to the ending of that chapter to help clarify it would be greatly appreciated.**

**Edit 5/20/14: I've went through the entire story up to this point and rectified any and all mistakes I could find. I hope this makes reading a bit smoother!**

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><p>Waiting for the doctor to come back with the results was terrifying. Isabelle had propped herself up on the table with me to reassuringly squeeze my hand, while scanning the various posters on the wall and commenting how she would 'clearly picture these when she had a problem and was looking for a solution'. I was too busy thinking about ways to tell Jace what had happened to give back any commentary on her sarcasm. I jumped and almost fell off the table when Dr. Maline knocked on the door and came in. She looked up from the charts in her hands with a sympathetic expression, a small smile gracing her face. She paused a moment to tell Isabelle to get off the table, allowing my mind to continue to race ahead. My heart sank and ice ran through my veins.<p>

I was pregnant.

I was going to have a baby.

Jace was going to have a baby.

We were going to have a baby.

Jace was going to be furious.

Jace was going to kill me.

"You're not pregnant Clary; however a couple of essential vitamin levels were quite low causing fatigue, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting. Certain factors such as stress, sudden temperature changes, hunger, and lack of sleep would set off the symptoms. I'm going to prescribe you some high dose vitamins and I want you to start eating a balanced..." I had toned out at 'You're not pregnant' and a flood of relief rushed over me in crushing waves. Dr. Maline handed me a prescription with scribbled writing on it, patted me on the shoulder, and left the room.

"You okay?" Hearing Isabelle's unusually soft voice snapped me out of the trance I was in. I shook my head to further clear my thoughts and gave Isabelle a small smile.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I was just thinking. When she walked in with that expression on her face, I was sure she was gonna tell me I was pregnant. Then I started to think and I was actually scared Jace would leave or even hurt me."

"Oh Clary its okay, but humor me this: has Jace ever tried to hurt you or gave you a single sign he would bolt at the first sign of trouble?" I shook my head and put it in my hands.

"Then why do you think Jace would even consider hurting you?"

"I don't know!" I cried out, my arms wrapping around my waist in a futile effort to protect myself from the dangerous thoughts swirling around in my mind. I honestly had no reason to be afraid of Jace, he never had tried to hurt me or even joked about anything that could hurt even my feelings. So why was I afraid of Jace?

"I think you're afraid of losing him, and it hurting you emotionally rather than physically. I know he loves you Clary, so much that he would never let anything happen to you or himself." I took a deep breath and nodded, wiping the tears from my face. Isabelle wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me from the room and into the hall.

"Come on, we can stop and rent a crap ton of movies, buy a crap ton of ice cream, and paint our nails or some shit like that." I laughed and started to pick up my pace towards the car.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Jace? I'm back!" I paused for a minute to listen for Jace, but shrugged when I didn't hear him and continued up to the room we now shared. I was putting various things away from the previous night when Jace finally made his appearance. I didn't notice him lean against the door frame until he cleared his throat, making me drop the bag I had in my hands. I placed a hand to my beating chest and took a deep breath. Jace locked his eyes onto something at my feet, an expression flitting across his face to quickly for me to identify it.

"So Clary, what's in that bag?" I glanced at the bag he nodded at, dread flooding my veins. It was the prescription bag my vitamins were in. Initially the pharmacist wanted to put me on prenatal pills, but I refused on the premise Jace might see them and assume the wrong thing. So they ended up giving me regular high potency vitamins, complete with the bag displaying where they came from. Crap.

"It's a prescription..." I trailed off, uncertain if he was going to be angry or just a little upset with me.

"Clary, why did you refuse to let me take you to the doctors but allowed Izzy?" Double crap. I was gonna have to come clean. I sighed heavily and flopped back on the bed, a couple bags landing in the floor from the impact. Jace sat beside me and pulled my head onto his lap to play with my loose curls.

"Promise not to get worked up about this?" Jace nodded and continued to stroke my hair while staring into my eyes.

"When I was on the phone with Isabelle the other day, we got on the subject of me being sick for so long. She mentioned something that shook me up, enough that she convinced me to let her take me to the doctor's office." A curious look replaced the serious one on his face.

"She mentioned I could possibly be... pregnant." I whispered the last part, slightly flinching when I saw a million different thoughts pass over Jace's face, anger being one of them.

"Are you?" I barely heard him, so it took me a second longer to process his words.

"No, I'm not. It was just a strange combination of low vitamins and certain things would set off the symptoms I was having. Super vitamins are in the bag." After Jace was quiet for a couple minutes and still hadn't moved from his spot I whispered a quiet apology. That seemed to snap him out of the stupor he was in.

"What?"

"I said I was sorry. I was just scared you would be angry if I did let you take me and it turned out I was pregnant..." I saw the hurt flash in his eyes and instantly regretted what I had said.

"Why would you think I could ever be angry at you for something like that? Sure it would have been a little earlier than expected, but I couldn't be angry with you. It does take two people to make a baby after all, so half the blame would have also been mine." I clapped my hands over my eyes as the tears began flow freely, unbidden sobs echoing through the room. I felt Jace quickly go stiff from panic.

"Oh god Clary, I didn't mean to make you cry." Jace easily hauled me up onto his lap and wrapped his strong arms tightly around me. I struggled to take in a breath to speak but eventually managed.

"No Jace you didn't do anything! I'm so stupid t-thinking you would be a-a-angry with m-me and not even c-considering, oh Jace I'm so so s-sorry!" I was half wailing at this point, feeling lower than dirt for thinking such stupid things. I flung my arms around his neck, clinging to him like he might vanish into thin air. A hand came to rest on my back, slowly trailing down my back in a soothing motion.

"It's okay Clary, I'm not mad or upset with you. I understand why you did what you did, but just know that I'll love you no matter what."

"I love you too Jace." He shifted us so we were lying correctly on the bed instead of sideways, arms wrapping around me in a tight embrace with one hand splayed across my stomach.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

I woke up several hours later to a strange sensation. My face and arms were freezing cold, but everywhere Jace touched me was burning hot. Sleepily I gazed slowly around the room to try and figure out why it was so cold, when I noticed the balcony door was cracked open. Jace groaned softly in his sleep while burying his face in my neck, probably feeling the cold as I was. A second later he sighed and opened his eyes to also rest on the balcony. A chilly breeze was drifting through the narrow space, enough to probably nudge the door open. He murmured an apology before rising from the bed to walk across the room and shut the door. He fiddled with the lock for a second, cursing under his breath when a final chill crept through the room. After Jace had slipped back under the still warm covers and curled around me again, I started to drift off into a peaceful sleep, dismissing the flicker of shadow on the balcony as part of my imagination.


	12. Chapter 12

A scowl crossed his face as he observed Jace and Clary in their bed, cuddled up against one another against the cold flooding in through the open balcony door. She began to fidget slightly until she eventually opened up her eyes to a slit. Clary gazed around the room for something, until Jace woke up from the cold infiltrating the room as well. He groaned and got up to shut the balcony, allowing the shadow to slip back out when Jace rubbed his eyes. After he shut and locked the door, the man in black with white hair hidden in a black cap stood just offset of the entry way to conceal himself as he continued to watch them for awhile. Clary shifted so she was curled around her stomach. Jace was curled around her in a similar manner, with one arm under her head as a pillow, the other resting on her stomach.

"Why is his hand on…" Then it struck him. The red-headed harlot was knocked up. A cross between a smile and scowl crossed his face as he processed the newly acquired information.

"I may have to change my plans now."

~.~.~.~.~.~.

When I woke up the next morning, Jace was lazily trailing a hand in a repeating path from my cheek to my hip. I sighed happily, sinking deeper into the warm but chilled comforter.

"So Clary, can you humor me something if it doesn't make you uncomfortable?" I mumbled something that sounded like an agreement before closing my eyes as he rounded back up to my shoulder.

"When you honestly thought you were pregnant, how did you feel? Not what you were thinking about, but how you actually felt excluding all other factors." I tensed for a moment at the word 'pregnant', but quickly sunk back into Jace as his hand traced further down my hip than the last trip. I puffed my cheeks out and slowly blew out air as I thought.

"I don't really remember honestly. I remember the icy feeling when Isabelle first mentioned the possibility and numbness for a good while." Jace swooped low again and traced the waistband of my shorts. He hummed lowly as if contemplating about what I had said.

"What would you have done if you had been pregnant? When would you have told me?" I groaned and sat up, moving to the edge of the bed and stretching. Jace grabbed me around the waist before I could stand and pulled me back against his chest, chin resting on the top of my head.

"You can tell me Clary. Please?" I groaned again, preferring to avoid talking anymore about this subject and exploring possible what-ifs.

"Jace, do we have to talk about things that didn't happen? Can't we just leave the what-ifs alone and focus on what has happened or could happen in the future, like what you're cooking for breakfast?"

"Alright. Let's think ahead of breakfast. Say we get married and you get pregnant. What would you do?" He would twist my words like that.

"Damn it Jace why do we have to talk about this now? We've only been dating for a month now, we're not engaged, we're not married, and I'm not pregnant! Don't couples usually get a cat or a dog together before even thinking about kids? Maybe I want a kitten first Jace. Maybe I want a cuddly little fur ball that will tear up the furniture but be too cute to get really mad at. Maybe I just want to enjoy the fact I've finally found someone who actually loves me and isn't pretending just to sleep with me!" I was almost shouting at this point, having long ago jumped out of bed to begin pacing the floor of our bedroom. Wait _our_ bedroom? I growled in frustration and headed towards the closet, shutting and locking the door behind me. I heard Jace scramble to follow me, but he failed to reach the door in time.

"Clary? Please open up. I'm sorry I upset you, I shouldn't have pushed that hard. Just forget I said anything okay? I can go and make us some french toast and—"

"Shut up Jace! Go make yourself some french toast." I had initially intended to retrieve one of my shirts to wear, but instead opted to grab a belt to situate under my bust to transform Jace's shirt into a flow top and slid into a pair of my own jeans. When I unlocked the door, Jace was still leaning against the wall with pleading eyes. I ignored him and continued to grab my bag and coat before heading downstairs to the front door.

"Wait Clary, where are you going? I said I—" I interrupted him again by holding a petite hand in the air in front of his face. I placed my hand on the knob and looked him in the eye with a glare.

"Jace I am going to leave this apartment and I'm not coming back until I have gotten my spare key from Maia and loaded my car with as much of my things as possible to bring back here. That should give you plenty of time to ask yourself the what-ifs and get it out of your system, before I punch it out of you. Love you." I kissed his cheek and stepped out the door without letting him respond.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

An hour later, I was sitting on the front steps to my apartment picking at the dirt under my nails with my knife as I waited for Maia to get back. A horn made me jump, almost cutting myself with the knife. Already irritated by Jace I snapped my head up to yell at someone when Maia tackled me into a hug. I felt the anger melt away instantly and hugged her back.

"I thought you were supposed to get here by taxi. I didn't hear it drop you off." Maia grinned and held up a set of keys. My keys!

"I found a spare key to your car on my keys of all places, so I had the taxi guy take me to where your car was instead to save you the trouble. Why are you sitting out here anyway?" I plopped on the couch as soon as Maia unlocked the door and started rattling off Jace's sudden question session and how we wouldn't lay off when I asked him to. Maia was moving around nodding and humming in the right places, before setting a glass of wine in my hand. I gratefully took a sip.

"Sounds to me like Jace kinda wants a baby." Sip retracted, as it now resided on the floor and table. I was half choking half stuttering when Maia waved me off.

"Relax, he waited this long just to earn your trust and love. He can manage to keep his baby gravy to himself for a while longer." I started to laugh at Maia's slang, suddenly thankful to have had her as my roommate for all these years.

Eventually we managed to load the majority of my things into my small car, and bid goodbye to Maia who promised she would visit sometime in the week and bring the rest of my things with her.

When I arrived home, I felt a sudden pang of guilt for leaving as I did. Jace probably worried for hours, not knowing how long I was going to be or if I was even coming back tonight. I shook my head, resolving to apologize by entertaining one or two of his questions, but only those.

"Jace, I'm back. Hello?" The lights to the downstairs were all off, save the stairs to the top floor. I carefully made my way up the suddenly endless stairs, the bad scenarios starting to multiply in my head. Usually Jace would leave a note on the inside of the door for me to see if he decided to leave while I was out, but not a single note was visible. Trying to be silent, I stepped onto the top stair and tried to slow the pounding in my heart. One step forward.

"Jace?" My call was weak and timid, almost a whisper. Another step forward.

"Jace, please, are you home?" A third step. I heard something in the kitchen to my left, and craned my neck to see if anything was moving. Then something grabbed my leg painfully, causing me to scream and fall backwards down the very steep, very hard stairs.

Thankfully I felt familiar strong arms catch me by the waist and draw me into his embrace. I was breathing wildly, adrenaline still pumping through my body making me feel very twitchy.

"Jace! What, what was that? What just grabbed me?" He laughed, giving me one good squeeze before turning on the kitchen light and leading me to a chair. I gratefully sat down and placed a hand on my chest to ease the discomfort.

"Here, hold this and click your tongue." Wait, what? Click my tongue?

"Um Jace, I don't wanna—" He shoved a can of tuna in my hands before I could object to anything and looked at me expectantly. I felt ridiculous holding a can of tuna, which he knows I hate, but went ahead and clicked my tongue as instructed. Before I could even blink again, a small fur ball zoomed from its hiding place behind the fridge and onto my lap. I winced a bit at the feeling of claws climbing my legs, but suddenly found it very tolerable as I looked into the precious eyes of a little tabby kitten. My heart melted as I watched it rub against the bottom of the tuna can, then devour half of it while purring loudly. I looked back up at Jace, who was smiling broadly while leaning on the counter.

"Is it for me?"

"Yes, _she_ is for you." That sarcastic little bastard took me seriously and went and got me a kitten. God how I love him. Another nudge against my hand drew my attention back to my lap, my little purr baby trying to get me to pet her. I melted again and set the can down before scooping her up and cuddling her to my face. Her purrs were consistent, and quite happy from the content look in her eyes.

"She needs a name you know." I thought for a few minutes before the perfect name popped into my mind.

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><p><strong>Time to pick the new kittens name! I figured as a treat for making you all wait so long for this chapter I would allow you to name Clary and Jace's new addition to the family! Please send me a PM or leave a review with your suggestion or suggestions and I'll try and have the next chapter posted around Friday.<strong>


	13. Chapter 13

**Our mystery shadow at this point is simply assuming Clary is pregnant was due to the way she and Jace were sleeping (hand on the stomach). His assumption will play a large part in the future of this story. Also please don't kill me when you read a certain part in the story. I started to go one direction with it, but it complicated things later on in the story to the point where I would have to redirect the plot so I compromised with a classic story/movie trick that usual results in many people yelling 'ah come on!' and so on. Enjoy!**

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><p>"I like the sound of Carlie." Jace came up behind me to wrap an arm around my shoulders and kiss the top of my head. He scratched Carlie under the chin, her purring instantly getting louder as she flipped onto her back to bat at Jace's hand. Her small paws flailed wildly in the air, tail lashing around to keep her from tumbling off my lap and into the floor. Jace's low chuckles filled me with such a sense of joy and happiness, and I thought I could never be happier than I was in this moment. If it was even possible my heart melted a bit more at the sight and sounds around me and I fell a bit more for the wonderful man behind me.<p>

"I thought about what you said Clary. I knew on some level you were only kidding about the pet thing, but the more I thought it over the better it sounded. So while you were packing your things and catching up with Maia, I went over and talked to Simon and Izzy. I remembered them saying something about a stray cat they took in having kittens, and decided to check it out. When I saw Charlie, I knew she would be yours. I'm sorry babe, please forgive my pushing." I looked up with tears in my eyes from Jace's heart-felt apology and simply kissed him to tell him I forgave him.

"Thank you Jace, I love you."

"I love you too, Clary."

I woke up with tears streaming down my face, but it wasn't until an involuntary sob escaped that Jace came running over to me. I had fallen asleep on the couch at Maia's after consuming a _bit_ too much alcohol, and I could only assume that Maia had either called Jace to come get me or he had come looking for me when I didn't come back home. Judging from the sound of Maia and Jordan's snoring coming from their room it must have been pretty late at night. I was outright sobbing by the time Jace had slipped behind me on the couch and wrapped his arms around me, holding me close and whispering soothing things to calm me down.

"Hey its okay Clary, there's no need to cry I'm right here. Shhhh I love you so much, please don't cry." When I finally started to calm down, Jace flipped me over so that I was facing him and I buried my face in his chest. It was quiet for a good while before either one of us spoke. Jace's voice was soft, barely reaching my ears but was soothing.

"I'm so sorry Clary. I honestly didn't mean to push you, and I'm honestly not sure why I was even asking you those questions. I know we've only been dating for a month but I feel like we've been together for years and I guess things just got away from me. I won't ask again Clary, I'll wait until you want to ask about anything like that so it'll be all up to you. I won't push you for anything you're not ready for ever again. What do you want me to do Clary?"

"Take me home, to the apartment." Jace nodded, gathered me up in his arms, and walked from the apartment to my car waiting on the street. The boxes I had packed earlier that night by the door ready to go were already loaded into it much to my surprise, but I resisted asking Jace if he had toted them to the car and chose to instead to simply buckle up while he locked Maia's door and rest my head against the window.

As Jace drove, he kept glancing out of the corner of his eye at me. I knew in a way I was being unfair by refusing to talk, but I in all honesty didn't know how I felt at the moment. I was touched that he had came after me and loaded up my car, as well as comforting me when I woke up, but I was also a bit ticked that he couldn't have just dropped the freaking issue. I closed my eyes as the car glided along smoothly, and kept them closed when Jace finally spoke.

"I left a note on the counter to tell Maia that I came and got you." I hummed to acknowledge him but didn't move or speak. It was silent for a while longer before Jace spoke again.

"I caught myself looking in pet store windows as I walked here, thinking about ways I could hide a kitten or puppy from the apartments manager." I let a smile slip on my face, picturing Jace wandering along the streets with that look on his face he got when he was thinking really hard. His eyebrows would scrunch closer while his mouth pulled to one side, a hand occasionally coming up to his chin. Then I remembered the dream and my mask slammed back into place.

"You walked to Maia's." It was more of a statement than a question. I cracked an eye open to see Jace run a hand through his hair.

"Maia texted me that you were going to stay the night there because you'd had a bit too much to drink, so I decided to come and get you as well as your car. I was still pacing the kitchen at eight this evening when I hadn't heard from you, so when Maia contacted me at nine I decided to come and get you and I felt like a walk would do me good. I would have let you stay if you still hadn't wanted to come back to the apartment, but when I heard you cry out… I just couldn't leave you there. Did you have a bad dream?" I sat up in my seat and looked over to Jace.

"I'm sorry for drinking so much and making you worry, but I don't really wanna talk about it."

"Do you wanna talk about, earlier?"

"Not now." It was silent the rest of the way home, and I pressed my nails into the palm of my hand hard to keep the tears from slipping down my face. Why was I so upset by that dream? When he pulled into the two car garage situated by the apartment, Jace looked at me for a second before sighing. I hadn't made a move to get out, or even unbuckle my seat belt. He came around and retrieved me, carrying me into the apartment, up the stairs, and to the bedroom. He slowly slid my jeans down my legs and took off the belt under my bust, but there was nothing sexual about it. He seemed to be moving very slowly and cautiously, like he was afraid I would run away if he scared me again. I supposed I actually did just that this morning after our argument.

"I'm going to be in the living room, so don't hesitate to yell if you need me." I was tucked in under the covers before Jace made towards the door, but my voice stopped him.

"I dreamt you got me a tabby kitten. I named her Carlie. She was waiting for me when I came home from Maia's, and you told me how much you loved me, and how sorry you were. Jace I don't know why I started crying when I woke up. I guess maybe I felt bad about the way I ran out, and maybe… maybe I did, well _do_ feel a bit sad that I'm not pregnant." Jace shut the door again and strode over to me, slipping under the warm comforter and embracing me. I grabbed at his shirt, buried my face in his chest, and started crying again. Jace just let me cry as I had earlier, until finally he started running his fingers through my hair—a sure fire way to calm me down in any situation. I calmed down to just sniffling, and I felt Jace shift around before going still again. I simply figured he was fidgeting around to get comfortable considering he was still in his jeans.

"Do you promise to listen to me, Clary?" I nodded, sniffling once more. Jace flipped us so that I was lying with my head on his chest and he on his back so that he could look at me easily and vice-versa.

"While I was walking, I came across more stores than just pet shops and things. I also came across a special type of store." I tilted my head up so that I could see his face, which to my shock held just a bit of worry, fear, and hopefulness.

"Since I can't get you a puppy or a kitten at the moment, I thought maybe that I could get you something to show how much you mean to me and wouldn't get us evicted." I giggled a little and nodded for him to continue. A black box appeared in his hand, and with a quick motion it flipped open to reveal a beautiful yet simple white gold band with little diamonds adorned around the top, accenting a slightly larger protruding diamond nestled in an intricate weaving of very slim white gold tendrils. I gasped and quickly propped myself up on my elbows to look at Jace and the ring better.

"This isn't an engagement ring; I know that we're nowhere near ready for a step that big, however I do consider this a promise ring. It means that I promise to be faithful to you, support you whenever and however you need, and I belong heart and soul to you and you to me. If you think this is too big of a step, I understand and I won't bring it up again. Just like with earlier, I'll only talk about it if you want to and bring it up first."

"Oh Jace…" I kissed Jace deeply until we both had to pull away for air. He chuckled and slipped the ring on my finger before kissing me once again. Once we broke apart I slid back down to lay my head on his chest and admired my ring. He really was very thoughtful and so loving.

"You know Jace, you can bring up things like that. You don't have to wait for me to say something first, because maybe when the time is right I might wanna talk about getting married or having a baby… I know I'll be upfront with you if I don't want something, but I'm afraid that if I'm the one making demands you'll be roped into something you don't want just to make me happy. We'll just promise not to push each other on sensitive subjects unless it's really called for, okay?" Jace kissed the top of my head and smiled.

"So I know you don't wanna talk about kids right now, but can we talk about the way to, I dunno, per say the process that leads to one without the whole trying aspect and more of the preventing?" I smacked Jace's shoulder and looked up to see him with his 'cheeky bastard grin'.

"Aw come on Clary, I've been working on that line for the past hour." I giggled and fell into Jace's wonderful kisses once again.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

That night he stood on the balcony again, but chose not to enter the master bedroom as he had previously. His lip curled in disgust as he observed them cuddled together, his hand on the tramps stomach again. What was that on her hand? A ring. So he decided to buy her a ring, but what could have caused this sudden commitment? They must have had an argument. He _did_ see her storm out of Jace's apartment that morning and not return until very late evening, driven by him no less. Jace was really investing himself in this girl— a bastard child and now a ring. This all would definitely play in his favor. He just had to bide his time and wait. Jace would regret the day he told him he didn't have feelings for Clary in high school. After all what was Jace's was actually his. The poor fool was just too stupid to realize that his stupidity would get Clary in quite the situation.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

Maia had stopped by as promised and helped me unload everything into the apartment. She stuck around for the day, catching up with me as well as harassing Jace much to my amusement. Maia got a kick out of watching Jace flounder as she teased him about the process of buying the ring, as well as possible mushy things he may have said. When she left at the end of the day, Maia gave me a tight hug and looked me in the eyes very seriously.

"Are you happy Clary? Do you really love him?" I smiled and felt my cheeks heat up as I nodded.

"Very and without a doubt—he loves me very much too." She nodded in satisfaction and flipped off Jace, who was sitting in the kitchen with his lap top, as she walked out the door.

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><p><strong>Wow... sorry for the long wait. Much to my surprise this chapter had been sitting on my flash drive, just waiting for revision and then publishing. I'm not quite sure why I forgot about it, but I'll definitely try to avoid that again. I think I literally smacked my head off of my desk when I found this chapter. Anyhow, here it is now, and I am so very sorry for the wait. Hopefully you guys still love me (or rather my writing) enough to still leave reviews and read (and I must say the response I've gotten for this story was phenomenal). <strong>


	14. Chapter 14

**Ummm... I graduated. Can I use that as an excuse for why I haven't updated in five months? No? Oh well, okay then. I'm just gonna ignore that and throw out there that I refuse to abandon this story! You guys have been phenomenal in reviewing and throwing me love and support so I can't bear to just give up. I haven't given this story thought in awhile due to my mind exploding with an amazing Percy Jackson story (it's actually quite similar to the base of this story except that Percy and Annabeth must navigate through her pregnancy and raising a baby) if you'd like to read it it's called "Don't Think So Much Annabeth". **

**Okay way off track there, but anyway now that I'm off until mid August I can update more. I'm trying to set a specific day to post updates for my different stories. Please leave a review, PM, or vote on the poll on my profile on what day you'd like to see this story updated on. If you read more than one of my stories, please specify which day you would like that story posted. As of right now it's looking like either a Tuesday or a Friday.**

**Thanks and happy reading!**

**Note: Robert and Maryse Lightwood will be for the most part OC, because I needed the 'unconditional doting parents' type for the story to make some different aspects work.**

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><p>Months passed without incident since Jace and I had gotten into that horrible argument. No one locked themselves out of anything, we didn't fight about anything other than what to watch on the television, and most importantly summer was finally back. While the cold and winter season in general didn't really bother me, I wasn't too keen on wearing layers and layers of clothing. So now that I could lounge around comfortably in shorts and a t-shirt, my general mood had improved.<p>

I was especially excited when Jace told me he wanted to take me to the 4th of July party his parents were throwing. I had been excited yet nervous, as I had never met them before. I knew they had adopted Jace when his parents (their best friends) had died in a horrible car wreck, but I had no other knowledge about them. Were they nice or mean? Would they like me? Did they enjoy Jace's brand of humor or did they find it annoying?

My worries were unfounded though, seeing as Jace insisted his parents adored me after I had met them. I had to believe him seeing as his mother was already planning a girl's spa day with not only Isabelle and myself but also Maia. When Izzy called her and told her, Maia went crazy and began talking to Maryse every day to help plan the weekend. I wasn't sure how much planning a single weekend took, but Maia and Maryse refused to disclose any details to Izzy or myself.

It was now two weeks after the party, and Jace had taken me to the beach for our six-month anniversary. I personally didn't feel a big deal needed to be made about it, however Jace insisted that we do something special to commemorate it. I was deeply thankful my skin didn't burn like that of the usual auburn individual, allowing me to tan on the beach and play in the water with Jace without roasting. I wasn't the best at it, but he had been slowly teaching me how to surf. The first time I actually survived a wave and was still standing I fell off the board from sheer excitement causing several other surfers to laugh and clap.

Then later that same evening we went to a simple restaurant. We had been enjoying our main course when a young married coupled approached us, mainly me, and began to gush while telling me how much they loved my paintings. I almost passed out on the spot when they offered me a contract to do a family portrait of them every year, offering each painting at thousand five hundred dollars. I had agreed in a haze, swapping addresses and numbers so they could send me the first couple photos from their engagement day and their wedding day along with three thousand dollars plus the shipping costs to send them the portraits. I was still in shock as they left, Jace laughing at the fact I was speechless.

"I told you your paintings were worth a lot more than you thought. Seems like the word is starting to get around about your portraits." Jace had manged to beat me to the hot tub in the beach house, his long legs taking up most of the room.

"I'm still wondering how they heard about me. They live in Chicago. That's not exactly close to New York, Jace." I forcefully moved his legs out of my spot before sinking into the blissfully hot water. While I did enjoy swimming in the ocean and tanning, I really liked the hot tub in the attached area of the beach house Jace rented for the week.

"Chicago has a lot of plays and musicals all the time. Maybe they were doing the same play as the Landmark at the same time, and when people would Google it both results would pop up. Then people would see the painting you did for the theater." I nodded my head, the possibility actually making sense for once. Usually Jace's theories were random crap he thought of and then spit out before thinking it through, just because he knew it would be either entertaining or annoying.

"Wow Jace, for once you didn't speak complete gibberish. I'm proud of you."

"I'm proud of me too, Clary. Thanks for noticing my brilliance.t I may just have to start applying it more often in the future." I giggled and he grabbed my arm to pull me to his chest. Strong arms wrapped around my midsection as Jace kissed my neck. I made a noise that was between a groan and a giggle, causing Jace to smirk.

"I love the odd sounds you make Clary. Not as much as I love myself, but even that can't compete with my love for you— all of you." Anyone else would have saw that as half an insult, but I knew Jace was saying that he loved all of me as a whole more than anything else, odd sounds and all.

"I love you too, Jace."

"I'll never leave you, ever. I promise." My heart swelled and I felt tears pool in my eyes.

"I promise too, Jace. I'll never ever leave you either." Jace swiped the tears from my face, and kissed me.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

It was the middle of the night when my bladder started complaining. I grumbled as I got up, upset I had to leave the warmth of the bed. I stumbled around the master suite, running into multiple things before finally locating the bathroom. As I washed my hands, I looked out the window towards the beach. I felt a bit of sadness that we would be leaving in two days, but I was also excited to get back home. I had really enjoyed my time here with Jace, and tried to shove back the small feeling of disappointment whenever someone would catch a glimpse of my promise ring and congratulate us. Secretly I wished it was an engagement ring, but I knew it was too soon. I had already tested the waters once by moving in with him after only a couple weeks, saying to hell with anyone who wanted to judge. I was twenty, almost twenty one, and could make my own decisions.

I turned to leave after drying my hands when a flash of light came from the water. I frowned, wondering what in the world it could be. No one swam at night except for the professional surfers when they had a glow stick party, and even then they were never alone. My heart dropped when I realized it could be someone trying to signal help, perhaps a child that wandered off from their family.

I ran pass Jace soundlessly, not knowing if I even had the time to wake him up. Someone could be dying right now, and I might be the difference between their death or survival. I bolted down the stairs and to the front door, only to meet a pair of arms around my waist and something cold pressed to my neck as soon as I passed the doorway. The force I had been running at caused the object to cut slightly into my throat, making me cry out in pain.

"If you want to avoid this knife becoming embedded into your larynx, I would stay quiet you stupid harlot." I vaguely recognized the voice, and thought that someone she had talked to or been around had followed them to the beach house. I nodded my head slowly, trying to stay quiet as the knife was withdrawn a few inches.

I could tell it was a man that was holding me captive, and that his eyes were black. He had a mask on and was wearing black from head-to-toe making it impossible to identify him. I wanted to scream for Jace, but knew I would be dead by the time he reached me. The blade of the giant knife my captor was holding seemed sharp enough to slice through my neck completely. I didn't want to find out if it really could.

"I knew you would be stupid enough to try and save some idiot, so I threw a light in the ocean to make you come outside. Truly Clary you have become an intellectual dullard since high school, the same as that liar Jace Wayland. I told him you were mine, not his. He was not allowed to have you and yet he disobeyed my orders! Now you both will pay, possibly with your life." Fear truly ran through me now, the realization I was going to be kidnapped hitting me hard. I wanted to speak to him, but the gloved hand covering my mouth made it impossible. This was someone from our high school, and they apparently didn't like Jace and liked me way too much.

"You will write a note to your beloved Jace telling him you decided leaving him was the best option for both of you. You will say you never want to see him again, and not to worry about your things in his apartment because you don't want them back." I nodded again, shaking as he led me inside and directed me to show him where paper and a pen would be. As he dug the pad of paper out of the kitchen drawer, I had to think of a way to let Jace know something was wrong.

I knew I couldn't think of a clever hidden message to hide in the note, and I had no way of knowing how smart this guy was— he might spot it. I almost cried when I realized that what we had shared in the hot tub earlier may have just saved my life. Neither of us had ever broken a promise to each other, and hopefully Jace would realize that when he read the note.

As I wrote my captor stood close behind me, the knife pressing into my back should I try to run. My free hand was tucked in close to my stomach, so as I wrote I pressed my nails as hard as I could into the palm of my hand. When I felt the skin finally give way the pen in my other hand stopped for a moment, and I bit my lip to stifle a cry of pain.

"Hurry up and write the last part before I save myself trouble and just kill you now. The red of your blood would look lovely in contrast to this white carpet." I took a shuddered breath and continued to write. I felt blood pooling in my other hand, and hoped it wouldn't drip down and onto the counter. I signed my name with a flourish and then put the pen in my other hand. It hurt like hell to roll it against the gashes I had created, but I had to leave something for them to know what happened to me. Jace would see the blood on the pen and know something was wrong. My captor tugged roughly on my arm and began to drag me to the door. The pen fell onto the white carpet, drops of blood splashing onto the carpet as well.

Panic seized me as the pen hit. If he noticed it then I was as good as dead. Thankfully he kept dragging me to the door, not looking back behind us. Right as he shoved me forward and out the door, I squeezed my hand as hard as possible and felt the blood run down and drip onto the wooden porch. The blood wasn't easily seen, but I knew Jace would see it if he looked for it. As the knife was pressed against my throat again I quickly flung my hand backwards, hoping a few more droplets would hit the white door.

I felt a small degree of relief that I had at least left Jace the clue I had been kidnapped, but the panic was still washing over me as I was drug to a black vehicle. A rag with a disgustingly sweet smell was shoved in front of my face, the thought of him having complete control over me while I was passed out being my last thought.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

Before I was fully awake, my arm sought out the warmth that was usually tucked up against my side in the morning. After feeling around and not even finding a warm spot on the bed, I opened my eyes and sat up. Clary wasn't in the room, and the bathroom door was open so she wasn't in there. I yawned and stretched before swinging my legs around and going downstairs to look for her. The lack of any sounds made me think perhaps she had went downstairs in the middle of the night for something and crashed on the couch, but there were no bodies in any of the rooms. Now frowning I made my way to the kitchen, stepping on a pen lying in the floor. I cursed, noticing the odd colored red ink I had just busted all over the place on the white carpet. I would have to pay for that to be cleaned before we left.

I left the pen lying on the floor for the moment, going into the kitchen area to grab a cloth to pick it up with. As I turned from the drawer, I noticed a notepad lying out that hadn't been there the night before. I saw Clary's signature and smiled— she probably had went out to go get something. I picked up the note, calmly reading until I realized Clary hadn't went out for something.

_Jace,_

_I'm sorry to leave in the middle of the night, but it was the only way I could do this. _

_We're not good for each other and I believe it's best that we never speak to or see each other ever again. What we had was fun, but now it's over. _

_Don't worry about my things here or in the apartment. I don't need them back and you taking them to me would be too painful. _

_Thanks for everything._

_Clary_

I was shocked when a few tears hit the paper. Swiping at them I tried to collect my thoughts into some semblance of order. There had to be a logical reasoning to this.

The note said Clary was leaving me, and it's in her hand writing, but the hand writing looked odd like she was shaking as she wrote it. She could have been crying as she wrote it, explaining the shakiness, but why are there no water marks aside from my own? We had just promised to each other last night that we would never leave each other, and we made it a point to keep our promises no matter what.

Something was terribly wrong.

Ice ran through my body as I cautiously walked over to inspect the pen lying on the floor. The writing on the paper was in blue ink, not red. I punched the floor in anger as I realized the pen was covered in blood. Some of it had already dried, the other parts still slick with it. I noticed the considerable amount of blood on the pen and the other drops on the white carpet leading to the door, which meant Clary had been bleeding badly. I whipped out my phone to call the police as I ran to the door. I almost tripped as I stopped suddenly at the frame, spotting the droplets all over the porch instantly. Blood had also been flung onto the door, the brownish-red color standing out glaringly from the white door.

"Hello, 911 what's your emergency?"

"My girlfriend's been kidnapped, please send someone immediately." I hung up, knowing it would get them here faster than if I explained. I quickly dialed another number, knowing she would be the best person to help me find Clary.

"Hey Jace, what's up?"

"Isabelle, I need your help now. Please get here as fast as you can, take the jet and I'll get the landing cleared. Clary was kidnapped last night." I heard the dial tone, and knew Izzy was on her way. I gripped my hand on the counter so hard the wood creaked and my knuckles turned white. I wanted to cry, but I knew that would help nothing.

"I'll find you Clary. I'll find you alive. I promise."

* * *

><p><strong>Well this is quite the cliffhanger, but it was well passed time that the plot began to pick up into the dramatic climax. I only envision this story to continue on six or so chapters, including the epilogue. As of right now I'm thinking a sequel, but it all depends on the demand of one. If no one responds that they would like one, then I won't write it. But I do have a plot written out for it, and it's ready to go if interest is shown. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll try and post the next one by Friday.<strong>

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